The Kids From Yesterday
by Catnatural
Summary: Could you turn your back on your family and everything you believed in? - "Be careful, Draco. The Dark Lord is not best pleased with us. I am not sure what it is that he requires from you, but rest assured, we will always be with you."
1. Prologue

**A/N: ****This has been stuck in my head for a while. I saw Deathly Hallows yesterday (WOWOWOWOWOW!) and I was so happy as to the amount of Draco in the movie! It was great. I hope everyone else enjoyed it! Best line has either got to be: 'Yeah? You and whose army?" or "That's my girlfriend, you numpty!" And the whole Room of Requirement scene, and the fight…I'll shut up now.**

**Summary: ****Could you turn your back on your family and everything you'd ever believed in, if it meant defeating the darkest wizard of all time and help save the world? Even if it could result in death, disownment or worse? Draco Malfoy has to decided which path to follow before time runs out - **_**"Be careful, Draco. The Dark Lord is not best pleased with us. I am not sure what it is that he requires from you, but rest assured, we will always be with you."**_

_Italics _– text taken directly from Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows.

_**The Kids from Yesterday.**_

_**Prologue.**_

"_My Lord," Said a dark woman halfway down the table, her voice constricted with emotion, "it is an honour to have you here, in our family's house. There can be no higher pleasure."_

_ She sat beside her sister, as unlike her in looks, with her dark hair and heavily lidded eyes, as she was in bearing and demeanour; where Narcissa sat rigid and impassive, Bellatrix leaned towards Voldemort, for mere words could not demonstrate her longing for closeness._

_ "No higher pleasure," repeated Voldemort, his head tilted a little to one side as he considered Bellatrix. "That means a great deal, Bellatrix, from you."_

_ Her face flooded with colour; her eyes welled with tears of delight._

_ "My Lord knows I speak nothing but the truth!"_

"_No higher pleasure…even compared with the happy event that, I hear, has taken place in your family this week?"_

_ She stared at him, her lips parted, evidently confused._

"_I don't know what you mean, my Lord."_

"_I'm talking about your niece, Bellatrix. And yours, Lucius and Narcissa. She has just married the werewolf, Remus Lupin. You must be so proud."_

_ There was an eruption of jeering laughter from around the table. Many leaned forward to exchange gleeful looks; a few thumped the table with their fists. The great snake, disliking the disturbance, opened its mouth and hissed angrily, but the Death Eaters did not hear it, so jubilant were they at Bellatrix and the Malfoys' humiliation. Bellatrix's face, so recently flushed with happiness, had turned an ugly, blotchy red._

_ "She is no niece of ours, my Lord," she cried over the outpouring of mirth. "We – Narcissa and I – have never set eyes on our sister since she married the Mudblood. This brat has nothing to do with either of us, nor any beast she marries."_

_ "What say you, Draco?" asked Voldemort, and though his voice was quiet, it carried clearly through the catcalls and jeers. "Will you babysit the cubs?"_

_ The hilarity mounted; Draco Malfoy looked up in terror at his father, who was staring down into his own lap, then caught his mother's eye. She shook her head almost imperceptibly, then resumed her own deadpan stare at the opposite wall._

A little while later, Voldemort allowed his followers to leave the drawing room; the majority of whom strode out happily – indeed Bellatrix Lestrange visibly skipped out of the room, manic laughter escaping from her lips. It was only the Malfoy family that crept out of the largest room in their house, fear evident in their rigid postures and wide eyes. Lucius kept a firm grip on his wife's elbow, and she in turn squeezed her son's shoulder, allowing a small form of comfort as they quietly left the room.

Voldemort had announced his plan to intercept Harry Potter's departure from Number 4 Privet Drive, and although this was met with cheers and excitement from the majority of the Death Eaters, the Malfoy's could not help but feel something bad was going to happen to them. They had fallen from the Dark Lord's grace a long time ago. After Harry Potter escaped from the Graveyard after the Dark Lord's rebirth, Lucius had failed to retrieve the prophecy from the Ministry and the boy had escaped, once again, relatively unharmed. Draco's failure to kill Albus Dumbledore was the final straw, and since then the Malfoy family lived in fear that at any minute, any second, the Dark Lord could kill any of them, torture them to death…

They slowly climbed up the long, winding, marble staircase, and once they were sure they were now alone in the Manor, they separated – Lucius and Narcissa continued up a further staircase to their own bedroom, leaving Draco to slip into his bedroom, shut the door and place various locking charms on it. He cringed as heard a slight movement downstairs in the basement, knowing the Lovegood girl would be wandering about aimlessly down there, conversing with the wand-maker and the goblin, trying to keep them cheerful and away from insanity.

Draco sighed dejectedly. He couldn't really blame anyone else but himself for this situation. If he'd only have killed Dumbledore that night…then none of this would have happened. His family would not have to be humiliated in this way – have their house overtaken by the Dark Lord and his parents afraid for their very lives. He threw himself down on his four poster bed, grimacing as he came to a realisation. There was no way out of this, he sighed, he'd probably die in this very house, and there was nothing he, nor his parents, could do about it. He had brought shame to the Malfoy family.

_****_

Draco woke with a start. He looked around his room wildly, trying to work out what had caused him to wake, when someone opened his door. He rubbed his eyes and searched blindly for his wand, before muttering, '_Lumos'_ and the light from his wand illuminated the entire room, and his parents hovering in the door.

"Mother? Father?" he asked cautiously, for they were glancing awkwardly at each other before his father murmured;

"Draco, my son, the Dark Lord requires your assistance in the drawing room."

"The…father?" Draco gulped.

Lucius made to place his hand on Draco's shoulder, but never. Instead he frowned and said quietly, "Be careful, Draco. The Dark Lord is not best pleased with us. I am not sure what it is that he requires from you, but rest assured, we will _**always **_be with you."

Draco stared at his father before walking up to him and throwing his arms around him. Shocked at this unusual form of affection, not a common occurrence in the Manor, Lucius could only gaze at this son, before his wife too, joined in the hug, and he brought them close to his chest, his actions saying what he couldn't put into words.

After a moment, Draco pulled away from his parents, wiped his eyes and sighed again, "Let's do this."

_****_

A few hundred miles away, a boy called Harry Potter woke with a start. He rubbed his forehead furiously, frowning as he attempted to recall his nightmare from only seconds before. He scowled as the blinding pain in his head refused to leave, and suddenly he looked up to see the worried faces of his best friends – Hermione Granger and Ron Weasley.

"Harry? Harry! Are you ok? Is it your scar?" The bushy-haired witch demanded immediately.

"Blimey, Hermione. Let the guy breathe!" the ginger-haired boy rolled his eyes.

Harry tried to control his breathing as various pictures formed in his mind. "Vol-"

"Don'.!" Ron growled angrily, still gazing in worry at Harry.

"Fear of a name only increases-" Hermione began, her face forming an exasperated scowl.

"Fine! You-Know-Who was angry…something…he's at Malfoy Manor…he wanted…Malfoy…Draco, I mean…not his dad, to do something." He frowned as he raked his memories, "I'm not sure what, but he wouldn't do it, he got punished…."

Hermione went pale. "He gave Draco _**another**_ mission? After he failed his last one?" She bit her lip.

Harry shrugged, "I think so. But he wouldn't do it."

"What happened to him?" Ron surprised them both by asking. "What? Just 'cause I don't like the git, it doesn't mean I want him hurt."

"He was responsible for Dumbledore's death, Ronald." Hermione frowned.

"Yeah," Harry interrupted, "But I think he's gotten enough punishment over that. I dread to think what Vol-I mean, You-Know-Who does to people who don't follow his orders. I'm actually surprised Draco's not dead."

There was a brief silence as the Golden Trio pondered over the fate of the blonde Slytherin before it was interrupted by Hermione.

"I still think we should be focusing on searching for the Horcruxes. We need to make a list-"

"Hermione, I know, but what if we are supposed to look for the Deathly Hallows as well? There's just something about-"

"No, Harry. You're getting too easily side-tracked. We don't need the Hallows, we need the horcruxes. We find and destroy the horcruxes; we defeat You-Know-Who."

"You make it sound so simple, Hermione." Ron sniggered.

"I understand that, really I do." Harry continued, ignoring Ron. "But it's obvious that he's obsessed with the Elder Wand!"

_"Harry-"_

"_Come on, Hermione, why are you so determined not to admit it? Vol-"_

"_HARRY, NO!"_

"_-demort's after the Elder Wand!"_

"_The name's Taboo" Ron bellowed, leaping to his feet as a loud __**crack**__ sounded outside the tent. "I told you, Harry, I told you, we can't say it anymore – we've got to put the protection back around us – quickly – it's how they find-"_

_ But Ron stopped talking, and Harry knew why. The Sneakoscope on the table had lit up and begun to spin; they could hear voices coming nearer and nearer: rough,, excited voices. Ron pulled the Deluminator out of his pocket and clicked it: their lamps went out._

_ "Come out of there with your hands up!" came a rasping voice through the darkness. "We know you're in their! You've got half a dozen wands pointing at you and we don't care who we curse!"_

_****_

**A/N: ****Dun dun dun! I've taken a break from writing World's Apart, I'm in more of a Harry Potter mood lately! Next chapter should hopefully be up soon!**

**=)**


	2. Chapter 1

**Disclaimer: ****Don't own Harry Potter or any of the other characters, Hogwarts or any other locations I may mention…*thinks* Yeah, I just own nothing =P**

**A/N: ****So here's chapter 1! As you saw from the prologue, I will be using parts of Deathly Hallows in my chapters. Probably not that much, as you probably guessed it's largely concerned on Draco, and he's not in the book as much.**

**Please review if you can =D**

**I also apologise for the prologue. I put line breakers in, honest! But they disappeared and I didn't realise until I'd submitted it! Sorry! Hopefully, these ones work, but I'll check before clicking 'submit' =P**

**Also, I tried uploading this last night, but I was having problems with the internet! *glares*.**

_Italics _**– Text taken directly from Deathly Hallows.**

_**The Kids From Yesterday.**_

_**Chapter 1 – Dragon in the Dungeon.**_

The Snatchers looked at each other in bewilderment and glee as they gazed at the newly discovered Boy-Who-Lived, The Mudblood and the Weasley boy. They debated loudly amongst themselves as to where to take their catch of the day, not noticing the Potter boy collapse, unaware that their Lord was placing visions in his head, visions of his discovery that Grindelwald no longer possessed the Elder Wand and the anger that this discovery created. Harry was so caught up in the pain, he never noticed their arrival at Malfoy Manor until they'd entered the gates and was dragged up the driveway.

_As Voldemort's anger throbbed inside him, Harry's scar threatened to burst with pain, and he wrenched his mind back to his own body, fighting to remain present as the prisoners pushed over gravel._

_Light spilled out over all of them._

"_What is this?" said a woman's cold voice._

"_We're here to see He Who Must Not Be Named!" rasped Greyback._

"_Who are you?"_

"_You know me!" There was resentment in the werewolf's voice, "Fenrir Greyback! We've caught Harry Potter!"_

_Greyback seized Harry and dragged him round to face the light, forcing the other prisoners to shuffle round him too._

"_I know 'e's swollen, ma'am, but it's 'im!" piped up Scabior. "If you look a bit closer, you'll see 'is scar, And this 'ere, see the girl? The Mudblood who's been travelling around with 'im, ma'am. There's no doubt it's 'im, and we've got 'is wand as well! 'Ere, ma'am-"_

_Harry saw Narcissa Malfoy scrutinizing his swollen face. Scabior thrust the blackthorn wand at her. She raised her eyebrows._

_"Bring them in," she said._

_Harry and the others were shoved and kicked up broad stone steps, into a hallway lined with portraits._

_"Follow me," said Narcissa, leading the way across the hall. "My son, Draco, is home for his Easter holidays. If that is Harry Potter, he will know."_

_The drawing room dazzled after the darkness outside; even with his eyes almost closed Harry could make out the wide proportions of the room. The crystal chandelier hung from the ceiling, more portraits against the dark purple walls. Two figures rose from chairs in front of an ornate marble fireplace as the prisoners were forced into the room by the Snatchers._

"_What is this?"_

_The dreadfully familiar, drawling voice of Lucius Malfoy fell on Harry's ears. He was panicking now: he could see no way out, and it was easier, as his fear mounted, to block out Voldemort's thoughts, though his scar was still burning._

_"They say they've got Potter," said Narcissa's cold voice. "Draco, come here."_

_Harry did not dare look directly at Draco, but saw him obliquely: a figure slightly taller than he was, rising from an armchair, his face a pale and pointed blur beneath white blond hair._

_Greyback forced the prisoners to turn again so as to place Harry directly beneath the chandelier._

_"Well, boy?" rasped the werewolf._

_Harry was facing a mirror over the fireplace, a great gilded thingy with an intricately scrolled frame. Through the slits of his eyes, he saw his own reflection for the first time since leaving Grimmauld Place._

_His face was huge, shiny and pink, every feature distorted by Hermione's jinx. His black hair reached his shoulders and there was a dark shadow around his jaw. Had he not known that it was he who stood there, he would have wondered who was wearing his glasses. He resolved not to speak, for his voice was sure to give him away; yet he still avoided eye contact with Draco as the latter approached._

_"Well, Draco?" said Lucius Malfoy. He sounded avid. "Is it? Is it Harry Potter?"_

_"I can't – I can't be sure," said Draco. He was keeping his distance from Greyback, and seemed as scared of looking at Harry as Harry was of looking at him._

_"But look at him carefully, look! Come closer!"_

_Harry had never heard Lucius Malfoy so excited._

"_Draco, if we are the ones who hand Potter owe to the Dark Lord, everything will be forgiv-"_

"_Now, we won't be forgetting who actually caught him, I hope, Mr Malfoy?" said Greyback menacingly._

_"Of course not, of course not!" said Lucius impatiently. He approached Harry himself, came so close that Harry could see the usually languid, pale face in sharp detail even through his swollen eyes. With his face a puffy mask, Harry felt as thought he was peering out from between the bars of a cage._

_"What did you do to him?" Lucius asked Greyback. "How did he get into this state?"_

_"That wasn't us."_

"_Looks more like a Stinging Jinx to me," said Lucius._

_His grey eyes raked Harry's forehead._

"_There's something there," he whispered, "it could be he scar, stretched tight…Draco, come here, look properly! What do you think?"_

_Harry saw Draco's dace up close, now, right beside his father's. They were extraordinarily alike, except that while his father looked beside himself with excitement, Draco's expression was full of reluctance, even fear._

_"I don't know," he said, and he walked away toward the fireplace where his mother stood watching._

A frightened noise escaped from Hermione, but Harry did not dare look at her. Afraid that if he did so, he would give their identities away. He racked his brain for an escape plan, but he knew deep down that this was simply due to desperation. Despite Draco's reluctance to admit Harry's identity, Lucius and the other Death Eater's knew that it was probably him, simply due to Hermione's appearance. If only she'd had time to alter her own face as well as Harry's. They hadn't mentioned Ron, which Harry found rather unsettling.

His thoughts cleared as he focused his attentions back to what was occurring in front of him – Greyback was now arguing with Lucius and Narcissa, and then Harry's heart stopped as Lucius noticed Ron.

_"But then, that's the Weasley boy!" shouted Lucius, striding round the bound prisoners to face Ron. "It's them, Potter's friends – Draco look at him, isn't it Arthur Weasley's son, what's his name-?"_

_"Yeah," said Draco again, his back to the prisoners. "It could be."_

Harry cringed as suddenly Bellatrix Lestrange strode in to the room before stopping in front of the group, her mouth slightly open, before demanding what was happening. When she was informed that Harry Potter had been caught, she was ecstatic, until she recognised the Sword of Gryffindor, currently held by one of the Snatchers. She was livid, attacked said Snatcher, before declaring that the prisoners be moved to the cellar – with the exception of Hermione who was to remain with her for 'questioning'.

_**XXXX**_

Harry tried in vain to restrain a struggling, screaming Ron as Hermione's tortured screams echoed loudly in the basement. He was only managing slightly to do this when they discovered Luna Lovegood, Mr Ollivander, a goblin and Dean Thomas also in the cellar.

They all flinched as they heard Hermione's screams increase in volume, and moved closer to the cellar door as some of the conversation filtered down the stairs.

_"How did you get into my vault?" they heard Bellatrix scream. "Did that dirty little goblin in the cellar help you?"_

_"We only met him tonight!" Hermione sobbed. "We've never been inside your vault…it isn't the real sword! It's a copy, just a copy!"_

_"A copy?" screeched Bellatrix. "Oh, a likely story!"_

"_But we can find out easily!" came Lucius's voice, "Draco, fetch the goblin, he can tell us whether the sword is real or not"_

_Harry dashed across the cellar to where Griphook was huddled on the floor._

"_Griphook," he whispered into the goblin's pointed ear, "you must tell them that sword's a fake, they mustn't know it's the real one, Griphook, please – "_

_He could hear scuttling down the cellar steps; next moment, Draco's shaking voice spoke from behind the door._

_"Stand back. Line up against the back wall. Don't try anything, or I'll kill you!"_

Harry wondered if Draco knew his voice was echoing upstairs, before he realised that maybe that was the whole point. His thoughts were confirmed to be true when Draco opened the door, marched inside, past them all, and grabbed Griphook, before turning to them all and muttering under his breath, "I'll get you out Potter. You and your friends…just…don't do anything stupid, ok? I need to…just don't do anything stupid, _**please**_." He begged.

At Harry's confused nod, Draco schooled his features back into an expressionless mask, before leaving the cellar, dragging a squirming Griphook with him.

Once the door slammed shut, Ron turned to Harry with his mouth wide open and his eyes wide. "What the bloody hell was that all about? Whose side is he on?" He kept his voice barely audible, terrified the others upstairs would hear him.

"I'm not sure," Harry shrugged in confusion, "I mean, he couldn't kill Dumbledore. And he looked absolutely petrified when we were up there; and don't forget Ron, he never actually said it was us."

"But why though? He hates us all, he made sure we knew that at school…so why's he not turning us in?"

"I don't know. It makes no sense."

"He's not a bad person." Luna interrupted dreamily, her voice so soft and quiet that they weren't sure she had even spoken until she repeated her earlier statement and then added, "He's never once hurt us in all the time we've been here, in fact, he keeps bring us extra water and whatever food he can find whenever the Manor is empty."

"What?" Ron demanded quietly.

"He's been caught once I think…it was the day before yesterday. I'm not sure what happened, but Bellatrix made him come back down to take the food and water back, and he always looks really upset. He keeps apologising, he's not a killer, Harry." She murmured.

"I know…I just…I always thought that he was on their side…" he frowned.

"I think he was forced into it…just look at his parents, and his aunt. Who could escape from that? And I believe that You-Know-Who actually lives here from time to time, it's not wonder he's terrified. And he looks ever so ill." She sighed.

Harry and Ron never got to reply as steps sounded down the stairs once more, before the door opened again and a hand gently pushed Hermione into the cellar, where she collapsed in Harry's and Ron's arms. A quiet "I'm sorry" was uttered before they heard Draco walk back up the stairs.

Forgetting all about the blonde haired boy, Harry and Ron lowered Hermione softly onto the ground, stroking her hair and murmuring words of comfort to her. Ron brushed away the tears streaming from her eyes, and kissed her on the forehead before breaking down himself, followed shortly by Harry.

_**XXXXX**_

Harry woke with a start before glancing round the cellar to see what had woken him. He smiled weakly as he saw Ron curled protectively around Hermione, their hands clasped together and Luna was sleeping beside Mr Ollivander, his long, blonde hair fanned around her face. Mr Ollivander was leaning against a grime covered pillar, his eyes focused on Harry as he too, smiled weakly. Griphook was staring into space, muttering under his breath, before he turned slightly to face Harry and murmured, "I do not understand, Harry Potter. You are a very unusual wizard. Is there no way of escape? We have tried many times, but we goblins have heard great things about you. Your power is greater than many could ever dream of possessing, you are famous, even amongst the goblins."

Harry stared at Griphook, before sighing and replying, "I'm not sure, Griphook. I don't see any way out of here, apart from the cellar door. I guess all we can do is wait for Malfoy to retur-"

"The Malfoy boy? He has been of some help to us. He has helped keep us alive, although, I am not sure if that is a good thing or not. It would, perhaps, be kinder to let us die here. I fear that they will come back and torture us until we die…"

Harry pondered over Griphook's word before steps sounded on the stairs yet again, and Draco Malfoy crept in the door, cautiously looking around. He relaxed slightly when they saw that they weren't going to harm him, in fact they were all staring at him in confusion.

"Erm…I…uh…" Harry had never heard Malfoy stutter before. It was quite unusual to say the least. "I…managed to get your wands back…I couldn't get my aunts though, I'm sorry…" He wouldn't look at them, instead focused his eyes on the floor before thrusting his arm out. Harry took the wands from Malfoy, and as the blonde turned to leave, Harry clutched his wrist, glanced at the bruise on Malfoy's cheek, and said one word, "Why?"

Malfoy blinked before muttering, "You don't deserve this…none of you…I could only get those two wands, not yours Potter, I can't find-"

"It broke." Harry explained, despite Ron's hiss in his ear that Malfoy did not need to know that.

"…Broke?" Malfoy whispered hoarsely, "But…but you need it! How can you defeat-". His lips clamped shut as a footsteps echoed on the wooden floorboards above them, before he spat out, "I've got to go, just…I'll be back with some food and that…"

He left, slipped out the door and lightly shut it before he crept back up the stairs.

Harry turned to Ron and Hermione in shock. "Well..at least we know whose side he's on now…"

Hermione sat up weakly, "We have to help him."

Everyone stared at her.

"We.." She coughed weakly, her body still aching after the events from only hours before, "We can't leave him here. They'll know he's helped us. If we get out, we're taking Draco with us. If we get out, we _**have**_ to get him out, else they'll torture him too. Look what they did to me…what do you think they'll do to a Death Eater who betrays them by letting Harry Potter escape?"

_**XXXXX**_

**A/N: ****Phew! That felt like a long chapter…it's not that long though… over 2300 words…longer than most of my chapters though!**

**I hope there's not too much of the book in here! This will probably be the only chapter that has so much text from the book in it…maybe =P**

**Please review! Next chapter should hopefully be up soon!**

**=).**


	3. Chapter 2

**A/N: **** I've currently got one fic on the go now that **_**World's Apart **_**is finished...weird. I had an idea yesterday for a long Harry Potter one-shot, but I'm going to write more of this first, I get side-tracked too easily!**

**I start back at Uni on the 12th September, so updates won't be that regular depending on my timetable (I'd like it now please, uni people! *glares*)**

**I'm suffering from a cold/sore throat today so I'm sitting up in my room complaining to myself and I thought I could update! =D**

**Enjoy, and please review! I have 3 so far, I'm hoping that more people are reading than just the three of you? Thank you to the two people who have reviewed -**_** Amaris **_**and **_**Reidluver**_**!**

_Itallics _**- Text taken directly from the Deathly Hallows.**

**Disclaimer: ****Can't remember if I've already said this...I don't own Harry Potter, Draco Malfoy, Hermione Granger, Dobby the House Elf, Narcissa and Lucius Malfoy, Bellatrix Lestrange, Bill Weasley, Fleur Delaclour, Luna Lovegood, Dean Thomas, Griphook the Goblin, Mr Ollivander...any other characters that may pop up randomly in this fic. I also don't own any of the following: Hogwarts, Gringotts, Diagon Alley (wish I owned Weasley's Wizarding Wheezes though!), Hogsmeade, or any other places I use. I don't even own the laptop which I'm writing this on...I stole it from my brother. Mine's is still making the wailing noise when I try to switch it on...and when it eventually does switch on, it won't connect to the internet...gaaaah to technology! **

_**Chapter 2 - How Did It Come To This?**_

The minute Draco left them, a loud _crack_ echoed inside the cellar.

_Ron cracked the Deluminator. Three balls of light flew back into the air from his pocket, revealing Dobby the house-elf, who had just apparated into their midst._

_"DOB-!"_

_Harry hit Ron on the arm to stop him shouting, and Ron looked terrified at his mistake. Footsteps crossed the ceiling overhead: Draco marching Griphook to Bellatrix._

_ Dobby's enormous, tennis-ball-shaped eyes were wide; he was trembling from his feet to the tips of his ears. He was back in the home of his old masters, and it was clear that he was petrified._

_ "Harry Potter," he squeaked, in the tiniest quiver of a voice, "Dobby has come to rescue you."_

Harry longed to questioned the elf who started lightly rocking backwards and forwards as a result of the intensity of Harry's gaze before a blood curdling scream from Hermione decided the next course of action. When informed that Dobby could indeed apparate in and out of the cellar, he asked him to take Luna, Dean and Mr Ollivander to Bill and Fleur's - as organised by Ron.

Once Dobby had apparated with a loud crack clutching the original trio of prisoners, Harry and Ron only had a brief moment to stare at each other in fear before a yell from upstairs alerted them to the fact that Lucius Malfoy had heard the noise and suddenly Wormtail was sneaking down the stairs towards them. Moments later, Wormtail had killed himself - strangled by the silver hand Voldemort had bestown upon him in the graveyard.

_Harry and Ron looked at each other, then, leaving Wormtail's body on the floor behind them, ran up the stairs and back into the shadowy passageway leading to the drawing room. Cautiously they crept along it, until they reached the drawing-room door, which was ajar. Now they had a clear view of Bellatrix looking down at Griphook, who was holding Gryffindor's sword in his long-fingered hands. Hermione was lying at Bellatrix's feet. She was barely stirring._

Bellatrix screeched wordlessly and Griphook as she interrogated him as to the identity of the sword he was holding. She declared suddenly that it was now time to call for the Dark Lord and when she pulled back her sleeve and touched one of her long fingers to stroke lovingly at the Dark Mark, Harry was plagued with further visions of Voldemort, this time torturing Grindlewald.

_"And I think," Said Bellatrix's voice, "We can dispose of the Mudblood. Greyback, take her if you want her."_

_"NOOOOOOOOOOOO!"_

_Ron had burst into the drawing room; Bellatrix looked round shocked; she turned her wand to face Ron instead-_

And a fight broke out. At first, it was unclear who was fighting who, the wizards completely hidden by the sparks and mist shooting out from various wands. Harry ended up winning Bellatrix's wand, stupefying Lucius Malfoy and then suddenly someone screamed -

_"STOP OR SHE DIES!"_

_Panting, Harry peered around the edge of the sofa. Bellatrix was supporting Hermione, who seemed to be unconscious, and was holding her short silver knife to Hermione's throat._

_"Drop your wands," she whispered. "Drop them, or we'll see exactly how filthy her blood is!"_

Draco was ordered to pick up their wand once they dropped them. His feet dragged across the marble floors, and stopped in front of Harry, caught his eye, nodded very slightly before bending down, picking up thewands and spinning round to face Bellatrix.

"No." His voice shook with that one simple word.

Bellatrix tilted her head curiously, "No, what, Draco?"

"I won't let you do this."

Her eyes narrowed at her nephew, before she glanced around and snatched Narcissa's wand from her hand. "I'm sorry Draco, I should have known you'd be on Potter's side. You always were a coward, boy. You failed to kill Albus Dumbledore, and now...now you're failing at being a man, a Malfoy. You are a sorry excuse for a Death Eater."

No-one saw Dobby creep closer towards the group of petrified prisoners, except Bellatrix who regarded the elf with a curious look before her lips curled in a sneer and she turned to face her shaking nephew.

"I don't want to be a Death Eater, Aunt Bella." He spat harshly, raising his wand, "I never wanted to be Death Eater. I want to say I'm sorry for what I'm about to do, but that would be lying, and one thing dear _**daddy**_ taught me to do, is always tell the truth. _Petrificus Totalus_!"

Bellatrix only had a split second to look shocked before her entire body keeled over and smacked off of the floor. Lucius sprung to his feet, grabbed his wife and strode up to Draco, his very appearance threatening as he towered over Draco's cowering body.

"Draco-"

"No, Father. I'm not going to stand for this! You let them into our home!" he snapped, "You kept my classmates in the cellar, and you made me...I'm sorry! And he cast the same spell on his father before turning to his mother, gazing at her helplessly.

"Draco-"

"I love you, mother. I just wish you'd never married Father. Or at least gotten out before things got too bad."

"I love you too, my dragon. Be safe." Tears flowed down Narcissa's proud, pale face.

"Just...get out, ok? I need to get everyone out, but...go to Aunt Andromeda's or something, please?" At his mother's nod, Draco whispered a final goodbye before grabbing the others, and Dobby apparated them to Shell Cottage.

_**XXXX**_

_Harry squinted around through the darkness. There seemed to be a cottage a short way away under the wide, starry sky, and he thought he saw a movement outside it._

_ "Dobby, is this Shell Cottage?" he whispered, clutching the two wands he had brought from the Malfoys'. ready to fight if he needed too. "Have we come to the right place? Dobby?"_

_He looked around. The little elf stood feet from him._

_"DOBBY!"_

_The elf swayed slightly, stars reflected in his wide, shining eyes. Together, he and Harry looked down at the silver hilt of the knife protruding from the elf's heaving chest._

Shuddering sobs escaped from Harry as he crouched down on the sandy ground, clutching the dying elf who, with his last breath, called out Harry's name before death stole him from the raven-haired boy. He was so caught up in his grief, he never noticed Malfoy crouch down beside him and place a shaking hand on his shoulder.

"I'm sorry," he murmured. "This is Dobby, isn't it?" At Harry's nod, he continued quietly, "I liked him. He always looked after me. He left us a few years ago though...think I was in second year. My Fat- Lucius wasn't very happy then."

"Yeah." Harry sniffed. "What's going to happen to you now?"

"What do you mean?" Malfoy tilted his head, unconsciously imitating the earlier actions of his Aunt Bellatrix.

"You fought with your family...to save _**us**_...thank you, Malfoy." Harry slightly angled his head to stare into Malfoy's shocking grey eyes.

"Uh...no problem?" Malfoy's lip curled up slightly before his face changed back to a blank canvas. "One thing though, could you possibly call me...Draco? Only, there's no point calling me Malfoy now, when..." He shrugged.

"When what, Mal-Draco?"

"Well, I betrayed them...didn't I? I think I've given them an excuse to actually disown me now..." he trailed off as the others joined them, crouching down to stare at the elf's corpse.

"Oh, Harry." Hermione sighed weakly, as Ron tightened his embrace on her. "I'm so sorry, he helped save us and..."

"I know, Hermione. I know." he gazed down at Dobby as Luna closed his eyes with her fingers, declaring that 'he could be sleeping', before he looked up at them all and stated, "I want to bury him. Without magic."

_**XXXX**_

A few hours later, Dobby had been buried and a small gravestone had been erected upon his grave. Everyone had been introduced to Bill and Fleur and hugs had been given to them all, with the exception of Draco, who hung back awkwardly from the rest of the group.

Bill looked up from his place at the table and caught Harry's eye. "Harry? Could I possibly talk to you for a moment? Malfoy, come to the table. Fleur's prepared some dinner, and you look like you could use it."

An odd expression flashed over Draco's face before he slowly nodded, stared at the occupants of the table for moment and made to sit beside Luna when she patted the seat beside her. He stopped and turned to Bill, murmuring quietly, "I'm sorry, Weas-Bill." His eyes raked over the scars littering the older man's face. "I didn't know he was going to be there. If I had...I'm sorry." He lowered his head before shuffling his way over to the table where he sat down and stared at his hands.

Bill stared incredulously at the blond before he left the kitchen, followed by Harry into the living room, where he closed the door and they both sat down on the two nearest armchairs.

"What...what was he apologising for?" Bill finally asked after a moment of silence.

"He let the Death Eaters into Hogwarts the night you got attacked." Harry sighed, waiting for Bill to grow angry and throw Draco out. "He was being threatened. He never knew that Greyback was going to be there. He was terrified."

"Oh." Bill sighed deeply. "He doesn't appear to be much like Lucius. From what I heard from Ron, Draco Malfoy was always a bit of a..."

"Git?" Harry supplied helpfully, smirking slightly.

"Yeah, a git." Bill chuckled. "He seems genuinely remorseful though. Now, Harry, what on earth happened earlier tonight? You turn up with a dead house-elf, an abused Goblin, a Malfoy and I'm pretty sure Hermione was tortured...would you like to tell me what's happening?"

The question was deliberately worded as an order, Harry noted. He frowned at Bill, trying to word his reply so that nothing about Voldemort or the Horcruxes or anything like that was revealed. "Ehm...well, we had something to do...a mission from Dumbledore."

"Does this mission have something to You-Know-Who?" Bill asked delicately.

Harry nodded, "But that's all I can really say, Bill. Dumbledore sworn me to secrecy, he let me tell Ron and Hermione though."

"I wouldn't expect any less of him." Bill smiled fondly before growing serious again. "How did you end up the others?"

"Luna, Dean, Griphook and Mr Ollivander were being held in the cellar of Malfoy Manor. I'm not sure how long they were there, exactly. Dobby came to rescue us...but somehow, Bellatrix managed to launch her knife at him before Draco attacked her and Dobby apparated us out."

"Draco attacked his own _**aunt**_?" Bill blinked.

"Yeah, and his father too."

"_**Lucius Malfoy**_?"

"Yeah."

"Wow."

"Yeah. We couldn't leavehim there after that. He's clearly been hurt...possibly tortured, I don't know, I haven't had the chance to talk to him. He stole our wands back from us. He said Lucius probably disowned him, is that true?"

"Possibly. If he betrayed them like that, he's gone against everything he was ever taught by his parents. He's deflected from the dark side to our side. I'm surprised he's still alive, actually."

"I know. Is there anything else you wanted to ask me?"

"No. I just wanted to know what was going on. Thanks for what you managed to tell me, Harry. What are you going to do now?"

Harry frowned and racked his brains, before the proverbial light bulb flickered on above his head as he had an epiphany. "I need to talk to Draco. Then Griphook."

Bill nodded and left the room, followed by Harry back into the kitchen where Luna was entertaining the group.

"- And daddy said we could go hunting for feathered fingwings once this is all over-"

"What on _**earth**_ is a feathered fingwing, Luna?" Ron asked.

"Well, no-one's really sure. It's sort of a cross between a flamingo and a dragonfly. They're really very rare and have incredible healing - hello boys!"

Draco's head jerked up from the table as he caught Harry's eye as the other wizard strode up to him and demanded, "Draco, I need to know, do you know if your Aunt Bellatrix has anything rather unusual in her vault in Gringotts? Something that You-Know-Who could of gave her?"

Draco's eyes widened as he stared at Harry in bewilderment. "Uh...I don't know. Why on _**earth**_ would you ask me such an odd question?"

"Because I need to break into Gringotts. Her vault, actually. And you and Griphook and going to tell me how to do it."

_**XXXX**_

**A/N: ****Ok, so there's a combination of the scenes from the book, the movies and my own head there! Confusing? I hope not!**

**Obviously I'm changing parts of the story as I write, if anyone's wondering about the whole wand thing, Draco's got his own for the moment, but that will change as Harry needs it for the final battle. And Harry currently has...Bellatrix's and he may get more...**

**Please review! It makes me feel good to know that people are reading...**

**Thanks for reading x**

**P.S This is my brother's laptop, and it doesn't appear to have a spell checker thingy...so if there's any spelling mistakes, I'm sorry but I do proof-read before I submit! =)**


	4. Chapter 3

**A/N: ****Hey! How is everyone? Good? Great! Sorry, I'm hyper! I got bored so I decided to post the next chapter, despite the fact that only one person's reviewed. I know it's only been a day, so...I'm hoping more people will review... **

**Thanks to **_**Reidluver**_** again for reviewing! Your review was so long, and filled with so much great stuff, it's helped me a lot! I'll answer some of your questions here as well, for anyone else who was wondering!**

**- ****Bellatrix was immobilised so how did she kill Dobby? ****- **_**Basically, I tried to imply that she attacked Dobby when he was creeping towards the prisoners whilst she was arguing with Draco. If you remember, she sneeered at him. I don't think I made it too clear though, I'm sorry!**_

**- I'll drop in more stuff about Draco's change in character - don't worry, it's not as quick as I've made it out to be, he's simply in shock from all that's happened so once everything sinks in, there's going to be a LOT of drama! Some in this chapter actually...**

**- ****Calling Bill Weasley by his first name**** - **_**Yeah, it wasn't clear in the previous chapter, but will be in this one, that was simply due to the fact that he's surrounded by all these 'good' people, so he's trying to ensure he doesn't get thrown back out to the 'bad' people. It's only a temporary thing, as Draco asked Harry not to call him Malfoy (another point brought up by **__**Reidluver**__**), simply because he views himself as a Malfoy no more, but he won't call everyone else by their first names, don't worry! The Draco you all love will be around for a lot longer!**_

**I hoped that answered any questions anyone had, if not, feel free to drop a review and I'll reply!**

_**Disclaimer: **_**I can only dream of being as awesome as JKR, so no, I don't own Harry Potter or anyone else. That's JKR's thing, and I wouldn't dream of stealing that from her.**

_Itallics _- **text taken directly from Deathly Hallows.**

Underlined text -** dream sequences/memories.**

**FINAL NOTE! (sorry about this!) I UPDATED CHAPTER 2 (HOW DID IT COME TO THIS?) YESTERDAY! MAKE SURE YOU'VE READ THAT FIRST OR NOTHING WILL MAKE SENSE! Thank you =D**

_**Chapter 3 - Nightmare.**_

She wouldn't stop screaming. She was thrashing from side to side, her pale grey eyes focused on his face as she begged him to stay there. She let out a series of tortured screams that echoed through the halls of the Manor as her husband and sister simply stood there whilst she was being subjected to the _Crucio_ curse over and over again. Her only child stood there in shock, one hand clutched in a fist, whilst the other was slowly raising his wand to face her attacker whilst she roughly shook her head from side to side, but it was too late. Voldemort had seen him raise the wand, and an evil grin unfolded on his pale, serpent-like face.

"Aah, Draco. Do you not like what I'm doing to your mother? Do you not like how I punish her? How I punish her for _**your**_ failure? Don't you see, Draco, if only you had killed Albus Dumbledore, then none of this would have happened! You lost me my best servant, Severus, so that now, I have to suffer listening to the pathetic whinging of your parents!" Voldemort lowered his wand, thus ceasing the torture of Narcissa Malfoy...for now...before turning to Draco, and raising his wand to point between the boys glistening grey eyes. "Oh, are you going to cry, Draco? Don't let me stop you. I wouldn't expect anything less from a cowardly Malfoy like yourself-"

"My Lord..." Lucius muttered, faltering as Voldemort spun and focused his furious slit-like eyes at him.

"Hush, Lucius. You know I speak nothing but the truth. _CRUCIO_!" he bellowed at the cowering man, before turning to the blond youth once more and subjecting him to a long period of repeated _Crucio's_ and other forms of torture.

Draco thrashed his head from side to side as he clutched his duvet and tears flowed down his face. He woke with a start when a hand lightly shook him, his parent's screams still echoing in his head and he burrowed his head in the pillow and burst out into tears.

"Draco..." Harry murmured softly, placing a hand on the boy's shoulder, checking to see if Ron had woken up. Ron blissfully snored on, the noise imitating that of a loud drill.

Draco promptly shook Harry's hand off and he sniffed. "Potter. Just leave me alone."

"Do you want to talk about it? I have nightmares a lot, I know how you feel..."

"What part of leave me alone didn't make sense to your miniscule brain, Potter? Was it the 'leave' part, or the 'me' part?" he snarled viciously.

"Draco...seriously, talk to me. It helps. You know the old saying, 'A problem shared is a problem halved.'"

"That's a load of nonsense, Potter. And stop spouting Muggle sayings at me."

"Draco, just talk to me."

"No. Now get lost. I want to go back to sleep." And he burrowed his head further into the pillow.

_**XXXX**_

"Draco? It's time to wake up. Fleur's made pancakes." Harry prodded the sleeping blond.

"Humph."

"Draco?" More prodding.

"Gah."

"Draco!"

"Huh." Followed by a slap and a foghorn yell in his ear.

"MALFOY! SERIOUSLY! GET UP, OR I WON'T BE HELD RESPONSIBLE FOR MY ACTIONS! THERE'S PANCAKES DOWNSTAIRS AND YOU SERIOUSLY DON'T WANT TO DEPRIVE ME OF FOOD! IT'S NOT PRETTY!" And the door slamming seconds later implied that Ron had vacated the bedroom in search of food, whilst Draco blinked up at Harry.

"He's right you know. Ron with an empty stomach is never a good thing." Harry smirked as Draco groaned and placed a pillow over his head.

_**XXXX**_

Once Draco eventually crawled out of bed, and had a quick shower, he followed Harry down the winding, narrow staircase, into the kitchen which was filled with people currently stuffing their faces with piles of pancakes and groaning happily.

Harry sat down next to Ron and grabbed two plates, filled them both with a piles of pancakes before handing one to Draco and digging in to his own.

Draco placed his down in front of him and glared at it.

"What's wrong with you? Who died?" Ron demanded through a mouthful of food, syrup smeared around his mouth.

Draco went pale and picked up a fork before breaking up the pancake with it, but not eating it.

Ron turned to Harry and raised an eyebrow. Harry shrugged and mouthed, '_Not a morning person'_, to which Ron grinned and Draco snarled, "I am a perfectly _**fine**_ morning person, Potter. I just don't appreciate being woken up at ridiculous hours for pancakes!"

Ron's jaw dropped open. "It's nearly lunchtime! And how could you insult the pancakes! They are the food of gods!"

Draco rolled his eyes. "No, they are not, Weaselbee. They are the food of idiotic imbeciles, such as yourself, and I for one, refuse to indulge in such nonsense."

And with that declaration, he stormed out the kitchen, up the stairs and slammed the door to the bedroom he was currently sharing with Harry and Ron.

"Erm...what did I say wrong?" Ron asked in bewilderment.

"Nothing." Harry sighed in exasperation. "I woke him for a nightmare this morning, he's been cranky ever since. That and the fact he doesn't actually like any of us."

"Well, we don't exactly like ferret-face either!" Ron snapped and the same time Hermione asked, "He's been having nightmares? What about?"

Harry stared at the two of them before turning to Ron and going, "Can you just stop with the names, Ron? We're stuck with him for now, ok? Can you just try to be...civil or something please? And I don't know Hermione, he was crying though."

"Ah. Please tell me you tried to comfort him."

"Well...I placed my hand on his shoulder, but he told me to get lost. I'm not good with people crying." The scene in the bathroom in sixth year sprang to mind.

"Oh, Harry." Hermione sighed. "Don't you see what's going on? It's all starting to sink in now."

"What is?" Harry shared a brief, confused look with Ron who shrugged.

"Oh, honestly, you two! He's stuck with us for one thing, we've never exactly got on, have we? And another thing," she continued loudly, ignoring their snorts of amusement, "We left his family back there, after they'd already summoned You-Know-Who! So, he's probably thinking they're dead right now!"

They stared at her.

"I didn't think of that." Harry sighed. "I suppose I should go talk to him?"

"No," Said Luna, surprising them all. "He needs to think about things. Work out where his loyalties lie, and whose side he wants to be on. His heart and his mind will be saying two different things, Harry. He'll want your protection, but he's scared for his parents. It'll be like sixth year all over again for him. Give him time, and he'll come to you when he's ready."

_**XXX**_

Luna's prediction came true a few hours later when everyone was doing their own thing - Bill and Fleur were in the kitchen, making plans for the Order or such like. Luna was conversing with Dean, whilst Mr Ollivander and Griphook were slowly recovering upstairs. Harry, Ron and Hermione were going through a list of the horcruxes when Draco entered the room, awkwardly shifting from his left foot to his right. They continued talking, making no effort to lower the voices, thus not noticing Draco's entry until he interrupted them.

"Right. The book's destroyed. So's the ring and the necklace. So...there must be a Horcrux in Bellatrix's vault...after all, she's You-Know-Who's most trusted Death Eater, right? After Snape I mean. So it'd make sense for him to hide one of them in there?" Ron summarised in a rare moment of intelligence.

"What's a Horcrux?" Draco interrupted causing the three of them to jerk in shock and cover their notes quickly.

"Nothing." Ron's eyes narrowed at the blond, whilst Hermione cursed herself for forgetting to cast _Muffialto._

"It is not 'nothing'." Draco growled. "If it's in my aunt's vault, then it's clearly important. I want to help, you said you needed to me to help break in...well, I'm not going in blind, I want some information first." he glared them as he crossed his arms.

"Fine." Harry sighed, standing up. "I need to go talk to Griphook, feel free to join me."

_**XXXX**_

_"Right," said Harry. "Well, I need some help, Griphook, and you can give it to me."_

_The goblin made no sign of encouragement, but continued to frown at Harry as though he had never seen anything like him._

_"I need to break into a Gringotts vault."_

_Harry had not meant to say it so badly; the words were forced from him as pain shot through his lightning scar and he saw, again, the outline of Hogwarts. He closed his mind firmly. He needed to deal with Griphook first. Ron and Hermione were staring at Harry as though he had gone mad. _It appeared they had not believed him when he announced his intentions earlier; it seemed to have finally sunk in. Draco too, was staring at him disbelievingly.

_"Harry-" said Hermione, but she was cut off by Griphook._

_"Break into a Gringotts vault?" repeated the goblin, wincing a little as he shifted his postion upon the bed. "It is impossible."_

_"No, it isn't." Ron contradicted him. "It's been done."_

_"Yeah," said Harry. "The same day I first met you, Griphook. My birthday, seven years ago."_

_"The vault in question was empty at the time." snapped the goblin, and Harry understood that even though Griphook had left Gringotts, he was offended at the idea of its defences being breached. "Its protection was minimal."_

Harry then went onto explain how he needed to get into Bellatrix Lestrange's vault, and as he explained, the expression on Griphook's face grew darker and darker before he finally agreed to consider his options and the quartet left him to rest.

Once they were back in downstairs in the living room, Draco spun around angrily to face the trio. "Right, we've talked to the goblin," he spat out, "So would you tell me why the bloody hell we're breaking into my Aunt's vault? She'll kill us all when she catches us."

"She won't Malfoy." Hermione replied to him, wincing as the sneer appeared back on his face. "That's one of the reasons we need you. I've read that family members can often get into other family members vaults, on rare occasions that is. I know you won't have a key, but a drop of blood should be enough to get us in."

"What the bloody hell are you on about, Mudbl-Granger?" he snarled, "Why do we need to go into my Aunt Bella's vault?"

"We need something."

"Oh, I'd never have gathered that from your cryptic comments!" he growled sarcastically. "_**What **_is it that you need? I might have heard of it before!"

"We're not exactly sure." Harry blurted out, ignoring the furious looks from Ron and Hermione.

"You...oh for the love of...how can you _**not**_ know what you're looking for? Were you just going to wing it? Break in and hope to find whatever it is before she realises you've broken in and she kills us all?"

"It's something of You-Know-Who's..." Harry slowly said as Ron rolled his eyes and Hermione sighed, "It's something we need to destroy so that we can win." It wasn't mentioned that, yes, they were planning on 'winging it', as Draco so delicately put it...but he didn't need to know that.

"...win?"

"Defeat him, you ferret-faced git!" Ron snapped. "Or are you still on his side, and want him to win?"

Draco blinked, before sighing, "I don't know what I believe anymore, Weasley. So, is this thing you're looking for, by any chance this Horcrux thing?"

"Horcrux things. And yes. There's seven of them, but three of them have been destroyed. We're not sure what the others are yet, but once we know, we can destroy them."

"And you think there's one of them in my Aunt's vault?"

The trio nodded as Draco sighed in frustration. "She's not going to like this. I've betrayed enough family members this week though, might as well carry on."

"What's that supposed to mean?" Hermione asked cautiously.

"None of your business, you filthly little Mudblood." he snarled, and his vision went all blurry for a second as it was obscured by an angry mass of ginger followed by an agonising pain to his jaw. He rubbed it furiously and glared at Ron once his vision had cleared, the red-haired boy was snarling and spitting, a very convincing imitation of an angry dog.

"And you said Harry gave out cryptic comments," Hermione murmured.

"What's that supposed to mean?" Draco snapped.

Ron jumped up and placed his arms out in front of his chest, indicating that he wasn't going to attack Draco. The action was lost on him though as the other boy stepped back, his glare deepening.

"Look, Malfoy," Ron muttered calmly, as Hermione and Harry motioned for him to continue, "I don't like this any more than you do, in fact, you're the last person on earth I'd like to be stuck with...well, except maybe Snape or You-Know-Who..." Draco snorted loudly. "But can you _**please**_ stop snapping at us every five seconds? And quit calling Hermione names, she hasn't insulted you once!"

Draco had the decency to lower his head and he muttered what sounded like an apology, but they didn't dare ask him to repeat it as he was still shaking with barely controlled anger.

"Right. That's ok then. Now will you help us get in to Bellatrix's vault?" Hermione asked quietly.

He lifted his head up and nodded slowly. "But don't blame me when we all get hurt. She hates us all now. He's Potter," He pointed at Harry as if everything was his fault, "She's a Muggleborn, so she's instantly a bad thing," He nodded towards Hermione, "And you're one of the biggest blood-traitors there is...and I've betrayed my family...so, you know...it's not going to be easy." He said this in a quiet, shaky voice so they decided to ignore the insults; after all it sounded more like the voice of Lucius Malfoy in Draco's skin, so they decided to question in later.

"It's ok. Griphook's going to help us break into Gringotts, and get us down to the vault; you'll help us get into the vault. Hopefully you can tell us what's just pure evil and we might find what we need." Harry looked at Draco who sighed again.

"Right then. Let's get this party started." And he left the room, leaving the trio to look at each other.

_**XXXX**_

"Harry?" Hermione looked up curiously from a pile of enormous, dusty books in the living room of Shell Cottage. Ron had given up reading and was currently using the nearest book as an extremely uncomfortable pillow; Harry was doodling on a nearby notepad and Malfoy was lost in thought.

"Hmm?"

"Did you talk to Mr Ollivander?"

"Yeah, I couldn't sleep and he said he's not been sleeping too well...obviously," he shrugged.

"What did he say? Did you ask him about-"

"Yes," Harry stated firmly, interrupted Hermione's questions. He looked at her and motioned towards Draco who was glaring at them.

"It's ok. You might as well tell him. We'll just all fight more if he doesn't get told."

"He said that Vol-You-Know-Who asked about the Elder Wand, and that he tortured Ollivander for the information. He believes it exists. He didn't know about the others though. He's got it now though. That's why I couldn't sleep. He's got the Elder Wand." Harry went pale.

"What?" Draco exploded and the others spun round, clearly forgetting he was there. "The Elder Wand? Isn't that one of the-"

"Deathly Hallows? You've heard of them,then?" Ron asked curiously. "Harry hadn't."

"Well, obviously Potter wouldn't have! It's a child's story! My dad used to read them to me - _**don't look at me like that, Weasley**_! Yes, my father read me stories! Want to send an owl to the _Prophet_?" he snarled.

Harry pinched his nose and mentally counted to ten. "Draco..." he growled in warning. "Can you tell us what you know about them?"

Draco sighed. "Fine, _**Potter**_. It's a fairytale...from _The Tales of Beedle the Bard_, I think. I was really small when I last heard them..." he frowned. "There's a invisibility cloak, a load of nonsense. As if such a thing exists." He scoffed.

"Erm, yeah_. _Harry has one." Ron supplied.

"_**Potter has an invisibility cloak**_?" he shouted. "Oh, that explains so much-"

"Malfoy!"

"Fine!" he groaned angrily, "There's the cloak...a stone...the Stone of...Destiny, I think...and then there's the...Oh god...he's got it, hasn't he?" Malfoy went even paler than usual, his skin imitating that of a crisp, white bedsheet.

"Yes."

"Oh, we are _**doomed**_." Malfoy whacked his head off the table. "Don't you understand?" He whined, his voice muffled by his arm from where his head was now buried, "He was powerful enough before...now...now he's unstoppable!"

"No, Draco, he's not. Well, yeah, he's more powerful and everything, but he's not got all three of them."

"...All...three of them?"

"Yeah, he needs all three of the Deathly Hallows in order to become immortal-"

"_**So why the bloody hell are we not hunting for them then**_? Why in the name of Merlin's knickers are we hunting for these Horcrux things?" Malfoy screeched loudly.

"Because, Draco, the Horcruxes have made him immortal. It's too late. We need to destroy them all before he can finally be defeated."

Malfoy stared at him. "He's already..."

"Yep. The Horcruxes contain part of his soul, if we destroy all seven of them - remember, three have already been destroyed - then once I finally confront him, he'll be a 100% human."

Malfoy had gone slightly green, and he snarled, "Oh, you make it sound _**so**_ easy, Potter! And he made _**seven**_ of these...soul things?"

"Yeah, the diary, the ring and the necklace have all been destroyed. They were all Slytherin things, we're thinking some of the others might be from the other houses...any ideas?"

"Ugh, I can just imagine the look of my Aunt's face if she found out that she had a Hufflepuff...helmet or something in her vault." He smirked.

"Helmet? Hufflepuff never wore-"

"Oh, Weasley, I wasn't being serious, you...buffoon! Is it something related to the founders do you think?"

"Possibly. That's why we're going to Gringotts. We're hoping something there looks really out of place. I might be able to get certain...vibes, from it or something." Harry shrugged. "We'll go tomorrow, if that's ok with everyone. Now, let's get some sleep."

_**XXXX**_

**A/N: ****Yeah, so don't expect so many updates this close together *chuckles* Rare occasion this. And as before, still on my brother's laptop...evil little thing...the laptop, not my brother...he's 6"4 or something now, and he's only sixteen *rolls eyes*. So yeah, there's no spell checker on it, so hopefully, there's not too many mistakes...**

**Please review! And thanks for reading! =)**


	5. Chapter 4

**A/N: ****And I give you the break-in to Gringotts chapter! Now, it's been changed quite a bit, obviously, as Draco's with them. But all the important stuff's there...I think. I hope you enjoy it, I love writing it =)**

_Itallics _**-text taken directly from Deathly Hallows.**

**Disclaimer: Don't own anything. Sucks really *sighs***

_**Chapter 4 - Goblins and Gringotts.**_

**INCREASED DEATH EATER ACTIVITY - STUDENTS FROM HOGWARTS MISSING - CHOSEN ONE DOING NOTHING!**

_By Rita Skeeter._

**It seems increasingly uncommon for wizards and witches alike now, to leave their homes without declaring their love to all family members, afraid that this might be the last time they'll ever see them alive. Indeed, the same is occuring throughout the Muggle world, **_**Rita Skeeter **_**reports, as news of further raids last night are revealed to the **_Prophet_**.**

**It has finally been revealed that recently, due to a moral panic as a result of an increasing fear in public safety as a result of increasing Death Eater activity, that in the early hours of yesterday morning, a small army of approxiamately fifty or so Death Eaters destroyed a small town closeby to Little Whinging, where Harry Potter currently resides when not at **_**Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry. **_**The small Muggle Town was completely annihilated; every Muggle family living there wiped out, entire generations destroyed. Which leads on to a series of questions:**

**WHERE was Harry Potter when all of this was occuring? WHY didn't he come and save the town? WHAT is the wizarding world supposed to do with all these attacks, happening in both the wizarding and muggle worlds? WHEN, if ever, will they stop? And WHO is going to stop them, as the Chosen One appears to be spending his time doin**g **far better things than trying to save us?**

**You would think that Potter would be worried about the recent events at **_**Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry**_**. Yet, my sources reveal that the Golden Boy has recently attended the wedding of Bill and Fleur Weasley (for pictures of the event, see pages 9 and 10), and has recently been spotted breaking into the Ministry of Magic! (for eye witness accounts, see pages 12-15).**

**It's not all fun and games though, my dear readers. My sources have also revealed that not everything is going well at Hogwarts. It appears a large number of students have been taken out of the school - from all four houses - to stay at home. Indeed, many students did not appear on the Hogwarts Express at the start of term. For example, the majority of the students remaining belong to the Slytherin house - with the exception of Pansy Parkinson and Blaise Zabini. The Parkinsons, too have suffered recently, with Mrs Flora Parkinson being cruelly murdered in front of her family as a result of Mr Charles Parkinson refusing to co-operate with You-Know-Who's Death Eaters. Furthermore, the body of Miss Pansy Parkison was discovered upon a search of the home by Aurors. Miss Parkinson appeared to have been tortued to death by repeated use of the **_**Crucio **_**curse. Additonally, it has been revealed that Mr Blaise Zabini also did not return to Hogwarts when term commenced a week ago. His current whereabouts are unknown.**

**This leads on to the recent events at Malfoy Manor (for further eye witness accounts, see pages 16-18). It was revealed that only days ago, something odd occurred there, and although we are not sure what, and do not want to speculate, we did manage to find out this - Lucius and Narcissa Malfoy are currently recovering in St Mungo's for serious injuries, and their only child, Draco Malfoy is missing.**

**Apparently, Harry Potter is too busy being a 'teenager' to worry about the sake of his world, and his classmates. No matter, it appears that someone else will have to take over...but WHO?**

Harry shoved the newspaper back into his pocket, shaking with anger. It appeared that, for once, Rita Skeeter was actually telling mostly the truth. But how _**dare **_she imply that Harry was off...gallivanting...he was fighting, for Merlin's sakes! And of course he was completely unaware about everything, he was in hiding and planning the downfall of the very..._**thing**_... responsible for the war! It wasn't like he had a flock of owls pouring in and out Shell Cottage all the time. They had stopped buying the _Prophet_, deeming it to be completely fabricated and with no truth to it. Additionally, Bill had commented (and Harry fully agreed), that a constant influx of owls around the cottage would attract attention, thus they too had stopped all forms of correspondence. He sighed, running his hand through his coal coloured hair in fatigue. He'd hardly slept last night, plagued with worry about the events that would be occuring in a while. He jumped out of his skin when Ron came up the hill and the back of Shell Cottage, followed by grumbling Draco, Griphook the Goblin and Hermione.

"You're sure about this?" Harry asked her, once he'd collected all his thoughts.

"Yes," She sighed, as if he'd asked the same question already...which he had done to the extent where she'd lost count and just answered him the same way every time. "The polyjuice concoction is fine. I'll drink that, you and Griphook can go under the cloak, and we'll disguise Ron."

A loud, fake and over-exaggerated cough from Draco caused Hermione to gasp. "Oh, Malfoy, I'm sorry!"

"Oh, you've remembered me, have you? How wonderful." He said sarcastically, examining his fingernails. "Oh, don't let me stop you with the planning. It's not like I'm needed or anything."

"Oh, honestly, Draco-"

"_**Did I give you permission to use my first name, Mudblood**_?" he snarled maliciously, ripping his eyes away from his long, pale fingers.

"Oi, Malfoy!" Ron yelled.

"No, Weasley! I don't want to do this! She'll find out you know! And I'm obviously not there, so who do you think she's going to take it out on, if they're still alive!" he snapped, going deathly pale as realised what he'd just said.

"Malfoy, you need to help us. The sooner we do this, the sooner we can find-"

"No! Potter, how would you react if you thought Granger had died? Or Weasley?" he shreiked dramatically, his face draining of colour.

"I nearly did!" Ron hissed, going red, "You foul-faced git! You nearly poisoned me last year!"

Draco went even paler. "Look...I'm sorry about that, ok? It wasn't meant for you, it was meant for-"

Ron approached Draco and raised his hand as Draco winced, "AND THAT MAKES IT ALL BETTER DOES IT? YOU NEARLY KILLED ME AND ALL YOU CARE ABOUT IS THE FACT IT WAS MEANT FOR SOMEONE ELSE! FOR _**DUMBLEDORE**_!"

Draco's mouth opened and closed a few times before he sighed, "Can we just...let's get this over with, ok?"

They turned around suddenly as Bellatrix Lestrange loomed over them, an uncharacteristically kind smile on her face. "Would you all please stop fighting! Ronald, come here!"

Ron flinched as Hermione set about altering his appearance until he resembled a smartly- dressed tramp. Harry snickered loudly, only stopping when Ron smacked him across the back of the head. "What about Draco?" Harry suddenly asked, ignoring the blondes glare.

"Ehm...well, we can't really let him go like he is-"

"_**Never**_, Granger. I knew they called you smart for a-"

"And it won't matter how we disguise him...they're looking for two males and a female...even if I am Bellatrix, I just think we ought to be careful..."

"I'm not dressing up as a woman! No way!" Draco protested as the trio turned to him with evil smirks.

_**XXXXX**_

"Oh, this is so uncomfortable. Granger, why on earth do I have to wear _**heels**_?"

"Because they're the only shoes Fleur had, and I've only got the ones I'm wearing!" she giggled at the look on Draco's face.

Harry had gone back into Shell Cottage and asked Fleur politely if she had some clothes he could borrow - ignoring the curious look from Bill and the snickers from Dean - and then proceeded to mock Draco by adding on high heels, a long, ankle-length, long-sleeved, blue dress and a shawl to the list. Hermione had, with some fancy spell work, lengthened Draco's hair to flow down his back, changed his face shape slightly and, ignoring the angry protests and swear words, added some makeup to the now female Malfoy.

"Well, I can't walk in them! It's awkward! And I don't see why I have to be a _**brunette**_-"

"Because with hair that colour, you're obviously a Malfoy!" She hissed, "Now, we're going to have to create some cover stories here. Griphook, would you please get on Harry's back - _**shut up Malfoy**_**- **Ron, you're a foreign You-Know-Who sympathiser, that way you don't need to speak, and Malfoy...you can be his daughter ok? Just don't open your mouth or you'll give the whole thing away!"

They headed down to Gringotts with an invisible Harry and Griphook, a chuckling Ron, a bemused Bellatrix and a grumbling Draco.

_**XXX**_

_Their entrance into Diagon Alley could have hardly been more conspicuous; for a moment Harry wondered whether it might not be better to leave, now, and try to think of a different plan. Before they could move or consult one another, however, they hearda cry from behind them._

_"Why, Madam Lestrange!"_

_Harry whirled around and Griphook tightened his hold around Harry's neck: a tall, thin wizard with a crown of bushy, grey hair and a long. sharp nose was striding towards them._

He was revealed to be another Death Eater - Travers - who seemed shocked to see Bellatrix out and about in Diagon Alley after the events at Malfoy Manor. Harry saw Draco tense at this revelation, and willed him to hold his tongue, but was rescued by Hermione imitatingthe pompous, sneering tone of Bellatrix so well that Harry could of sworn they had the real woman there. Even Draco flinched. It was his aunt, after all, Harry realised.

She then introduced Travers to Ron and Draco, and Travers gaze lingered over the duo, and he spent a few moments longer staring at the brunette girl, licking his lips before he turned back to Bellatrix and asked what she needed.

_"I need to visit Gringotts," said Hermione._

_"Alas, I also." said Travers. "Gold, filthy gold! We cannot live without it, yet I confess I deplore the necessity of consorting with our long-fingered friends."_

_Harry felt Griphook's clasped hands tighten momentarily around his neck._

_"Shall we?" said Travers, gesturing Hermione forwards._

They had no choice but to follow him, Harry glancingaround warily at the destruction of the wizarding shopping district. Travers conversed in a low murmur to Hermione, casting frequent leering glances back to Malfoy, licking his lips as Draco shuddered under his penetrating gaze.

His heart rate increased to an alarming rate when Hermione was questioned about identification, and Griphook revealed that they had been warned about the possibility of an impostor. In an usual moment of foolish bravado, he cast _Imperius _on the goblin, his first attempt ever, and he actually felt a section of his heart protest.

Another goblin, Bogrod, joined the first and they set off down the long, winding track to the vaults - Harry sending Travers off to hide beforehand, using the _Imperio _curse for the second time in such a short space of time.

Suddenly, they were on a rocky passage floor, only saved by Hermione's last minute Cushioning Charm. It turned out they had been outed by The Thief's Downfall - which washed away all enchantments and disguises, so Bellatrix was now Hermione, Draco was no longer a woman and Ron had his usual bewildered look on his face.

"Just brilliant." Draco drawled.

"Oh, shut it, Malfoy!" Ron snarled. "What are we going to do?" He howled.

"We need to move from here, before the others find us." Griphook commanded, "_Imperio _Bogrod again, and we'll move towards the Lestranges vault."

They all jumped after turning a few winding corners to be faced with a snoring dragon, its scaly body littered with bloody rips and tears. Fortunately for the group, they sneaked past the dozing animal and travelled further into the depths of Gringotts.

Moments later, they were at the entrance to Bellatrix Lestrange's vault, and were permitted entry by an Imperiused Bogrod. Unfortunately, the second Hermione stumbled into a pile of jewels, they multiplied - '_The Gemino and Flagrante Curses!' Griphook hissed - _

"Harry!" Hermione hollered, furiously pointing behind him, jumping to dodge a large number of multiplied goblets that toppled off the table she had just stumbled into, "Is that it up there?"

Harry whirled around, scanning the area, putting out mental feelers for the Horcruxes, "Hermione...where? I don't see..."

"Up there!"

He followed her shaking finger to where a plain-looking cup for placed high up on a shelf. He moved towards in closer, wading through the growing piles of multiplied objects, wincing at the others shreiks of pains when they were burned. He felt the evil swirl around in his thoughts, flashes of memories moved to the front of his mind as he shouted, "That's it! Hufflepuff's cup! Give me the sword, Hermione! I'll try and loop it through!"

Hermione threw the sword, Harry lunged to catch it, stumbling and causing a nearby shield to multiply. He stretched out his body, standing on his tiptoes, but, "It's no use, Hermione. I can't reach! Do you know-"

"_Levicorpus!_" she screamed and suddenly Harry was lifted high above his friends, he glanced down but could only see Hermione and the two goblins who were cowering in the corner. He successfully hooked the sword of Gryffindor through the cup handle when suddenly, a loud holler and a flash of ginger revealed a struggling Ron who had just caused a suit of armour to multiply, and he jumped back in shock. The entire vault was now overun with multiplied treasure and Harry cast his eyes around, searching for Draco when-

_"Impervius!" screeched Hermione, in an attempt to protect herself, Ron and the goblins from the burning metal._

_Then the worst scream yet made Harry look down: Ron and Hermione were waist-deep in treasure, struggling to keep Bogrod from slipping beneath the rising tide, but Griphook had sunk out of sight and nothing but the tips of a few long fingers were left in view._

_Harry seized Griphook's fingers and pulled. The blistered goblin emerged by degrees, howling._

_"Liberacorpus!" yelled Harry, and with a crash he and Griphook landed on the surface of the swelling treasure. and the sword flew out of Harry's hand._

_"Get it!" Harry yelled, fighting the pain of the hot metal on his skin, as Griphook clambered on to his shoulders again, determined to avoid the swelling mass of red-hot objects. "Where's the sword? It had the cup on it!"_

_The clanking on the other side of the door was growing deafening - it was too late -_

_"There!"_

_It was Griphook who had seen it and Griphook who lunged, and in that instant Harry knew that the goblin had never expected them to keep their word. One hand holding tightly to a fistful of Harry's har to make sure he did not fall into the heaving sea of burning gold, Griphook seized the hilt of the sword and swung it high out of Harry's reach._

Griphook vanished, but not before alerting the surrounding goblins that there were thieves in Gringotts; and in that moment, Harry felt they had lost. Wizard guards and goblins joined forces to attack them; spells of all sorts were firing from left to right; Draco appeared out of nowhere, screaming all forms of dark spells, and for once, Harry couldn't care less. After Griphook's betrayal, he felt no sympathy whatsoever for the gobins. He joined in with Draco, his spells nowhere near as menacing but still hurtful and suddenly, Hermione was on the back of the dragon, screaming at the three of them to join her, and then they were rising higher and higher from the pits of Gringotts, up through all the passageways, past the many, many deep vaults and the running goblins, and then they were outside, flying high in the sky, high above the streets of Diagon Alley, and very quickly, Harry realised, they had left London, and suddenly, they were falling, screaming and flailing in the air and they dropped into a freezing, murky lake.

Moments later, Harry crawled onto the shore, gasping from breath and coughing up waterfalls of water. Nearby, he could hear Ron's retching and Hermione's heavy coughing , but-

"Where's Draco?" He asked in a panic. There was no blond, scowling youth nearby. Ron was holding Hufflepuff's cup, but in that moment, he couldn't care less about the Horcruxes, not if there was the possibility that Malfoy was dead. "Where is he?"

"He was with us!" Hermione cried out, "I swear! I saw him! He was on the dragon with us!"

"Did he jump?" Harry demanded.

"I...I dunno, Harry. We all did...I..." Ron stuttered out.

"What if he's still in the water? Can he swim?" Hermione gasped, as the other two turned to stare at her in horror.

"I...I don't know," Harry muttered hoarsely, "I...I've never asked..."

_**XXXX**_

**A/N: *****Sniggers* You can hate me now. It was quite sneaky of me, really. I'm hoping if I leave a cliffhanger...more people might review?**

**Thanks for reading! x**


	6. Chapter 5

**A/N: ****And you find out what happens to Draco. What a nutter =P There's quite a bit of actual text in this chapter from Deathly Hallows, so hopefully it's ok.**

_Italics _**- text taken directly from the Deathly Hallows. **

**AND WOOHOO! I HAVE MY LAPTOP BACK! *does a victory dance* Yeah, I don't have a clue what happened to do it, but my dad fixed it in about 5 minutes *head desk* **

**Thank you to **_**JRA **_**for reviewing! I'm glad you're enjoying it and all will be revealed about the Malfoys soon! I know! They're one of the greatest families I think, they're really interesting.**

**Also, thanks to **_**alphapup0909 **_**for also reviewing! It's great you're enjoying it! **

**DISCLAIMER: Don't own anything remotely related to the world of Harry Potter, apart from the books and DVDs. Just - to borrow a phrase from a fanfic I read recently (can't remember the name or author, sorry!) - It's nice to go on a little mental vacation with the characters, yes? =D**

**_Chapter 5 - Heading to Hogwarts._**

"DRACO!" Harry screamed as he threw himself back in the lake, frantically thrashing around in an attempt to find him, "DRACO!"

"MALFOY? WHERE ARE YOU? ANSWER US, YOU FERRET-FACED GIT!" Ron hollered.

"Malfoy? Please answer us!" Hermione sobbed, praying that he wasn't dead. She didn't like him but she wouldn't wish drowning on him...what a horrible way to go, she thought grimly.

"DRACO-"

"HARRY!" Hermione suddenly screeched, wading in and pointing a shaking hand over near the rocks. "I SEE SOMETHING OVER THERE!"

Harry spun around, and sure enough, a short distance away, there was an object floating near. "RON! COME AND HELP! I'M NOT THAT GREAT A SWIMMER!"

"OH, NOW YOU TELL ME!" Ron roared angrily.

"WILL YOU STOP YELLING AND START SWIMMING!" Hermione screamed, wading in a bit more.

Harry threw himself back into the water, followed instantly by Ron as they both charged over to the rocks, panting with exertion and using previously rested muscles.

They stopped when they reached the rocks. Floating on his back was Draco Malfoy, blood on his head, his eyes closed with a deathly pale face.

"Oh Merlin," Ron breathed. "Come on, Harry, we need to get him on land."

The two of them dragged Draco towards the shore where Hermione was waiting with wide eyes. She had moved from the water and had raked through her bottomless pit of a bag whilst they were swimming, to find warm, dry blankets and a first aid kit. Ron picked up Draco, his right arm looped under Draco's knees; the left supporting his head as he lay him down on top of one of the thick, woolen blankets. He sat back and stared at the other two.

Harry lunged forward, and start pushing on Draco's chest and after a few agonizing moments where that was all that happened, and the other two held their breaths in terror, a spout of water erupted from Draco's blue lips and he was suddenly on his front, retching and coughing as Harry rubbed his back, helping him.

"It's ok, Draco, let it all out, you're safe now." Harry murmured softly.

Draco finally collapsed on the pebbles, breathing heavily before he turned his head and gazed up at them, "Oh, we're all alive. That's good."

Hermione bent down and wrapped a couple of blankets around him as he started to shiver. "You nearly weren't, Draco. What happened?"

"Well, I'm not sure exactly. I remember the Weas-Weasley telling us to jump and then I panicked as...well...I think I banged my head..." he frowned as Hermione dove into the first aid kit and Harry felt his head for bumps. "_**OUCH**_! Potter, did no-one ever inform you of the concept of personal space? You're invading mine, so _**move**_!"

"Can he save your life first, you ungrateful prat! Why didn't you tell us you couldn't swim?" Ron blurted out.

"I..." Draco went bright red. "It didn't seem important..."

"DIDN'T SEEM IMPORTANT!" Harry exploded, causing everyone to wince. Hermione jumped up and started erecting protection spells and the such-like. "YOU NEARLY DROWNED, YOU IDIOT!"

"Well, I'm sorry I didn't tell you then!" He snarled sarcastically, "I never knew we'd be jumping of the back of a bloody dragon, did I? Did we get it?"

"...Get what?"

"GAAAAH WEASLEY!" Draco roared loudly, "THE BLOODY CUP, YOU PLONKER!"

"Yeah, we did." He tilted his head. "What happened to you? You disappeared for most of it, what happened?"

"Well, there was suddenly all this stuff, more than there was before...I managed to protect my face." he muttered, as if that's all that mattered.

"Your face? What about the rest of you?" Hermione didn't give him the chance to answer before she tore off the blankets and pulled his shirt up, ignoring Ron's scandalized cry of '_**HERMIONE'**_

They all gasped, and for good reason too. From his collar-bone down to his belly-button, Draco's torso was littered with blood-red burns, and various other marks. Harry moved closer and something caught his eye-

"Is that where...?" he motioned to a series of thin scars around Draco's chest.

"Yes." he snarled, snatching the blankets from Hermione and wrapping them round himself unnecessarily tight. "Personal Space." he spat, glaring at them.

They shuffled backwards a bit as Hermione got more blankets for them. She changed under hers, before pulling out an assortment of clothes and placed them in a pile. She motioned to Harry and Ron, "You two get changed and make a start on the tent. I'm going to fix Draco's injuries then we can sort out some food."

_**XXX**_

Draco winced as Hermione rubbed more ointment on his chest. "That burns, Granger." he whined, "Do you need to be so vicious?"

He hissed as she deliberately pressed harder, "I'm sorry, Draco, but at least this way, it might not scar."

"It won't scar?" His eyes went wide.

She looked at him curiously. "Hopefully not. I think you've got enough of them, don't you?" She motioned to the Sectumsempra scars. "Do they hurt?"

He looked down at his chest and shuddered. "At the time? Yes, like hell. I deserved it though. Doesn't hurt so much now."

"What do you mean, you deserved it?" She poured more ointment on her hand and started rubbing it into his shoulders.

"I was about to cast _Crucio_ on Potter." he winced as she dug her nails in at that revelation, "I've never been able to do it, but he never knew that."

"He never told us that. Why were you fighting?" She of course, knew why, but she wanted to hear it from his mouth, hear his reasons.

He sighed. "Of course he wouldn't have. _**Saint Potter's**_ too good for that, always seeing the best in everyone, even when there's none there." He sighed again, "And we were fighting because...I was...upset and he was there, I tried to _Crucio _him, and he retaliated, so it serves me right." He sighed a third time, "Are you finished yet, Granger? I'm hungry."

She chuckled, then grew serious as she started rubbing the ointment into his hips, "You're far too skinny, Draco."

"I'm not skinny, I'm slim!" he protested, "It's my genetics, I can't help it!"

"Draco," she sighed, prodding his protruding hip bones, "You're too skinny. Also, I can see your ribs. You need to eat more."

"Well, excuse me, Granger. You try having the Dark Lord live at your house for a year after a horrible year of being tortured and threatened and see what your appetite's like!" he snapped, not realizing what he'd said until Hermione gasped. "Uh...don't suppose you could forget I said that, huh Granger?"

"He tortured you? For failing to kill-"

"Thank you, Granger." He interrupted loudly, pulling a dry top over his mangled chest, now covered in crisp, white bandages. "I feel a lot better now, thanks for fixing me up." And he stormed away over to Ron and Harry who were fighting with the tent.

Hermione rolled her eyes, picked up the medical supplies and went to join them, muttering something that sounded suspiciously like, '_**BOYS!**_' under her breath.

_**XXXX**_

"So, exactly _**how**_ do you destroy a Horcrux?"

"Sword of Gryffindor."

"Yes, Potter, but in case you haven't noticed, it's not here...where is it, by the way?"

"Griphook took it. Didn't you see?"

"No, Weasley. I was too busy being burned and buried alive. Sorry to have missed all the action."

"Ah. Well, Griphook stole it. We got the cup though."

"Well, that's all fine and dandy and all that, Weasley, but how are we supposed to destroy the bloody thing?" Draco finally shouted.

"Calm down, Dra-Malfoy," Hermione admonished, thrusting a steaming plate of food under his nose. "Eat this, and you'll feel better."

"...What on earth is it?" He raised it closer to his face, turning it this way and that, trying to distinguish the various lumps and bumps by prodding them with his fork. He gazed up at her, "It looks like something my owl would throw up."

Hermione threw down her empty plate, and Harry and Ron jumped as she focused her rage on Draco, "Well, guess what then, Draco? MAKE THE BLOODY STUFF YOURSELF! JUST BECAUSE I'M THE WOMAN, DOES NOT MEAN I COOK, YOU SEXIST PIG!"

"But Granger," He whined, rather bravely in Harry's opinion, "I can't cook! And Weasley's probably never cooked in his life, and do you really want Potter near a stove?"

"Actually, Draco, I used to cook for my relatives all the time." Harry butted in, placing a hand on Hermione's shoulder in an attempt to calm her down. "I'm not that bad."

"Why didn't you have a house-elf?" Draco demanded, "You're supposed to be this amazing wizard, surely you have an army of house elves to cater to your every need? I know you stole one of ours."

"Dobby?" Harry asked, pushing down the wave of grief that rose when he uttered the deceased elf's name. "Your father hated him."

"I don't know if it ever escaped your notice, Potter." Malfoy drawled, his face darkening, "But I'm not my father." He spun around to glare at Ron as the red-head snorted in amusement. "Something amusing, Weasley?"

"You act _**exactly**_ like him. You're snobbish, pompous and arrogant, and you're always going on about your Pureblood status, always putting us three down, and you've got the Dark- where are you going?"

"Away from you before I wipe you off the face of the earth." Draco snarled as he stormed off towards the direction of the tent.

_**XXXX**_

"Where is he?" Hermione murmured softly, a short while later, as she joined Harry and Ron around the small burning flame in the glass jar in their newly created living space inside the tent.

Harry moved closer to the flame, placing his hands nearer before sighing, "I don't know. I think he went to bed. It's best just to leave him there I think."

"What are we going to do now?" Ron muttered sleepily, throwing yet another blanket over his shaking form.

Harry furiously rubbed his scar, "I don't know...grrr! Why does it keep hurting? It's been like this since we broke into Gringotts!"

"Is it hurting more than usual, Harry?" Hermione asked, worry lines forming on her forehead.

"I...ARRRGH!" He shouted, as he fell to the floor, rolling in agony. His screams were imitated by someone else in the tent, their hollering voice filling his head also.

Flashes of images filled his head; his scar stretching in pain, the screams from his lips surely belonged to someone else. Moments later, he was retching on the floor as Hermione brushed back his sweaty fringe, her fingers tangled in his hair as she soothed him. "Harry?" she murmured.

_"He knows." His own voice sounded strange and low after Voldemort's high screams. "He knows, and he's going to check where the others are, and the last one," he was already on his feet, "is at Hogwarts. I knew it. I __**knew**__ it."_

_"What?"_

_Ron was gaping at him; Hermione knelt up, looking worried._

_"But what did you see? How do you know?"_

_"I saw him find out about the cup, I - I was in his head, he's -" Harry remembered the killings, "He's seriously angry, and scared too, he can't understand how we knew, and now he's going to check the others are safe, the ring first. He thinks the Hogwarts one is safest, because Snape's there, because it'll be hard not to be seen getting in, I think he'll check that one last, but he could still be there within hours-"_

_"Did you see where in Hogwarts it is?" asked Ron, now scrambling to his feet too._

_"No, he was concentrating on warning Snape, he didn't think about exactly where it is-"_

_"Wait, __**wait**__!" cried Hermione, as Ron caught up the Horcrux and Harry pulled out the Invisibility Cloak again. "We can't just __**go**__, we haven't got a plan, we need to-"_

"We need to wake Draco up, that's what. Then we're going to Hogwarts. _Can you imagine what he's going to do once he realizes the ring and the locket are gone? What if he moves the Hogwarts Horcrux? Decides it isn't safe enough?"_

_"But how are we going to get in?"_

_"We'll go to Hogsmeade," said Harry, "and try to work something out once we see what the protection round the school is like._ You two get under the cloak, I'll go wake Draco up. Then we're going to fix this, once and for all."

_**XXXX**_

They landed somewhere on the main street of Hogsmeade, the four of them under the cloak, with numerous other protection spells in place to prevent them being seen. Malfoy was grumbling loudly - he had indeed been asleep, suffering through an extremely awful looking nightmare and was thus being quite vocal about his protests - so Ron elbowed him roughly in the ribs to shut him up, and they carefully crept down the street until they set of the Caterwauling Charms.

A dozen or so Death Eaters burst out from the Three Broomsticks, and after a brief taunting session from them, they set the dementors on the group, trying to lure them out into their grasp. He muttered, "_Expecto Patronum_," trying to save them, if they were caught; Voldemort had won. Suddenly, his name was hissed from a hidden doorway, and they cautiously followed the owner of the voice into the Hog's Head where their savior argued with the Death Eaters and when they had left, revealed himself to be Aberforth Dumbledore.

He needed no introductions to them, but when his eye caught Draco, he flinched and hissed, "I don't want to alarm you, Potter, but you do realise there is a Death Eater here, apart from the ones outside I mean."

"He's not-"

"He is, Potter. He is responsible for the death of my brother. Oh, he may have not killed him directly with his own wand, but he let them in that night, he let that..._**traitor**_," he spat, "Kill my brother. He's nothing but a murdering, cowering Malfoy."

"Now, you listen here, you old buf-" Malfoy snarled with even more venom than the others were used to.

"Shut up, Draco. Aberforth, he's on our side. We...got caught, and he saved us. He's been helping us on our mission. Dumbledore left us...me, a job to do."

_"Did he, now?" said Aberforth. "Nice job, I hope? Pleasant? Easy? Sort of thing you'd expect an unqualified wizard kid to be able to do without overstretching himself?"_

Even Draco had trouble disguising his snort of laughter. He was still shaking with anger at the truth of the older wizard's earlier words though_._ A panicked thought formed in his aching head and he burst out, "Uh, Mr. Dumbledore, sir...I know you don't like me...but you don't happen to have a newspaper lying around...do you?" He was desperate for news; hopefully the newspapers would provide him with some mental relief.

Aberforth gave him an odd look before reluctantly nodded and leaving the room, whilst Harry spun to face Ron and Hermione and mouthed, _oh no!_ They looked at him curiously, and opened their mouths, but before they could ask him anything, Aberforth strode back into the room, thrust _The Daily Prophet_ at him, and threw himself in the nearest armchair, glowering at him as he unfolded the paper with a gasp:

_**FUNERALS FOR FAMILIES OF DEATH EATERS TAKE PLACE - VANISHED MALFOYS- POTTER AND FRIENDS MISSING?**_

_By Rita Skeeter._

**More alarming news has been uncovered by your beloved writer, my dear readers. It appears that Harry Potter and his close friends, Ronald Weasley and Hermione Granger are missing. It has been revealed, by trusted sources, that the trio has not returned to **_**Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry **_**to commence their education this term.**

**Furthermore, on inspection of their residences, it appears that the trio has not lived in the respectful homes for quite some time. Last seen at the break-in to the Ministry of Magic earlier this year, (see pages 2-3 for more information), the trio seems to have vanished off the face of the earth.**

**WHAT on earth is going on, dear readers? WHERE has the Golden Trio vanished off too? WHY haven't they told anyone? **

**On a different note, whilst officials are scouring the country for the missing children, masses of funerals have been occurring for the families of Death Eaters. The Parkinson funeral was held yesterday morning, Flora and her daughter Pansy, finally being laid to rest, whilst a sobbing Charles Parkinson threw himself over their coffins before being lead away by an elderly relative.**

**Additionally, the bodies of Blaise Zabini and his parents, Opal and Marcus were laid to rest also yesterday, due to their mutilated bodies being discovered in their home late last week. Aurors believe that the Death Eaters are responsible, therefore no further inquiries will be held.**

**(See pages 10-13 of photos of the above funerals).**

**My sources also revealed that Narcissa and Lucius Malfoy have vanished from St Mungo's (see last edition of the **_**Prophet**_** for more information). Healers attending to both Malfoy's appear to have been **_**Obliviated**_** and could provide no assistance when questioned by Aurors.**

**If you have any information on the Malfoys, (including their son Draco who is still missing), please do not hesitate to contact the Ministry of Magic. They are deemed armed and dangerous, and are wanted for suspected illicit activities, particularly the use of Dark Magic and involvement with You-Know-Who.**

Draco threw down the newspaper, his body shaking with rage, ignoring the others attempts to calm him. He strode over to the fireplace where a young girl was staring at him sympathetically, her long hair billowing from the slight breeze in the painting. He took a moment to compose himself, spun around to face the others and snarled, "You better kill him, Potter. Or I will. No-one messes with me and gets away with it."

"Draco-"

"No, Potter. He's killed my two best friends, and now...my parents...my parents are missing. I don't care anymore. Just kill him, _**please**_."

Harry nodded, throwing a sympathetic, pitying look at Draco before turning to Aberforth and sighing.

_"We need to get into Hogwarts," said Harry again. "If you can't help us, we'll wait til' daybreak, leave you in peace and try to find a way in ourselves. If you __**can **__help us - well, now would be a great time to mention it."_

_Aberforth remained fixed in his chair, gazing at Harry with the eyes that were so extraordinarily like his brother's. At last he cleared his throat, got to his feet, walked around the little table and approached the portrait of Ariana._

_"You know what to do." he said._

_He smiled, turned and walked away, not as people in portraits usually did, out of the sides of their frames, but along what seemed to be a long tunnel painted behind her. They watched her slight figure retreating until finally she was swallowed by the darkness._

_"Er-what-?" began Ron._

_"There's only one way in, now," said Aberforth. "You must know they've got all the secret passageways covered at both ends, Dementors all around the boundary walls, regular patrols inside the school from what my sources tell me. The place has never been so heavily guarded. How you expect to do anything once you get inside it, with Snape in charge and the Carrows as his Deputies...well, that's your lookout, isn't it? You say you're prepared to die."_

_"But what...?" said Hermione, frowning at Ariana's picture._

_A tiny white dot had reappeared at the end of the painted tunnel, and now Ariana was walking back towards them, growing bigger and bigger as she came. But there was someone else with her, someone taller than she was, who was limping along, looking excited. His hair was longer than Harry had ever seen it: he appeared to have suffered several gashes to his face and his clothes were ripped and torn. Larger and larger the two figures grew until only their heads and shoulders filled the portrait. Then the whole thing swung forwards on the wall like a little door, and the entrance to a real tunnel was revealed. And out of it, his hair overgrown, his face cut, his robes ripped, clambered the real Neville Longbottom, who gave a roar of delight, leapt down from the mantelpiece and yelled, "I knew you'd come! I __**knew**__ it, Harry!"_

_**XXXX**_

**A/N: ****You'll obviously recognize the ending from Deathly Hallows...how awesome was that scene in the movie? **

**Sorry for killing of Pansy and Blaise...had to be done, you know =P and all will be revealed about Lucius and Narcissa.**


	7. Chapter 6

**A/N: ****Sorry if it seems like I've hurried through the Battle in this chapter...it will be in the next chapter, possibly the one after that too! It's deliberate as it makes the whole siltation even more panicked and as there's a lot of changes, it hopefully will all make sense. I didn't mention the whole Snape fight in this chapter – you know it happened, but it doesn't fit with this fic, so hopefully it's not too annoying!**

**DISCLAIMER: **** * ****says monotonously * I do not own Harry Potter or any of the related characters, locations and situations mentioned throughout this chapter. The only stuff I am responsible for, is changing it so that Draco's there! **

** As usual, the stuff in **_Italics_** are from the book.**

**Enjoy!**

_**Chapter 6 – What Brave Little Soldiers.**_

"_Neville - what the – how -?"_

_But Neville had spotted Ron and Hermione, and with yells of delight was hugging them too. The longer Harry looked at Neville, the worse he appeared: one of his eyes was swollen, yellow and purple, there were gouge marks on his face, and his general air of unkemptness suggested that he had been living rough, Nevertheless, his battered visage shone with happiness as he let go of Hermione and said again, "I knew you'd come! Kept telling Seamus it was a matter of time!"_

He explained to them how he'd received his various war-wounds and then flinched, and visibly jumped back a few steps until he was pressed up against the portrait of Ariana again, his eyes wide in shock,"Uh…Harry?"

"Yep, Neville?"

"Why's Malfoy here?"

Harry twirled around and saw that Malfoy was standing closer to Aberforth, as far away from the newly reunited Gryffindors as possible, and was currently gazing around the room with a look of extreme boredom on his face.

"He's on our side, Neville." Ron surprised them all by saying, "He's been…helping us.

Neville stared at Draco for the longest moment, before nodding his acceptance and motioning for them to follow him through the gap behind the portrait. They followed him down a long, winding, dirty passageway. Neville was telling them about the new 'reformed' Hogwarts –

"_It's been…well, it's not really like Hogwarts anymore," said Neville. They're in charge of all the discipline. They like punishment, the Carrows."_

"_Like Umbridge?"_

"_Nah, they make her look tame. The other teachers are all supposed to refer us to the Carrows if we do anything wrong. They don't, though, if they can avoid it. You can tell they all hate them as much as we do."_

"_Amycus, the bloke, he teaches what used to be Defence Against The Dark Arts, except now it's just the Dark Arts. We're supposed to practise the Cruciatus Curse on people who've earned detentions-"_

"_**What**__?"_

_Harry, Ron and Hermione's united voices echoed up and down the passage. _Draco merely nodded. He'd expected nothing less; after all, he'd been subjected to the Cruciatus Curse daily when the Dark Lord had been at the Manor. He was the youngest there, so it was quite common for them to vent their frustration out on him.

"_Yeah," said Neville. "That's how I got this one," he pointed to a particularly deep gash in his cheek, "I refused to do it. Some people are into it, though; Crabbe and Goyle love it. First time they've ever been top in anything, I expect."_

Draco's heart leapt when he heard his friends names, "Vince and Greg?" he demanded, "They're still alive? I thought…"

Neville gave Draco a funny look, "Yeah. They're still alive." He glanced at Harry, "You're right about him, Harry. I think he really is on our side, else he'd know about the others. Crabbe and Goyle are Death Eaters now. Most of Slytherin are. Have you got the mark, Malfoy?"

Draco gulped, glanced at the others, before nodding. "I'm not a Death Eater though, Longbottom."

"I know. Just wanted to check." He moved away from Draco to stand beside Harry and continued to talk with him before Ron interrupted, with his usual bewildered look in place.

"_But," said Ron, looking thoroughly confused, "aren't – aren't we heading straight back into Hogwarts?"_

"_Course," said Neville. "You'll see. We're here."_

_They turned a corner and there ahead on them was the end of the passage. Another short flight of steps led to a door just like the one hidden behind Ariana's portrait. Neville pushed it open and climbed through. As Harry followed, he head Neville call out to unseen people: "Look who it is! Didn't I tell you?"_

_As Harry emerged into the room beyond the passage, there were several screams and yells-_

"_HARRY!"_

"_It's Potter, it's POTTER!"_

"_Ron!"_

"_**Hermione**__!"_

Then suddenly, it was as if someone had stolen everyone's ability to speak, as a large wave of silence filtered through the room as Draco stepped through the door. His eyes visibly widened as saw the massive number of people that had accumulated in the room, and he scanned it looking for green and silver, but only seeing the colours from the other houses – the majority of it red, and every person in the room glared at him, then spun to Harry with a look of pure shock on their faces.

"HARRY? THAT'S MALFOY!"

"Why's _**he **_here?"

"Yeah, shouldn't he be out there? Torturing the first years or something?"

"How dare he show his face…he killed Dumbledore! The _**nerve**_! Why, I oughta-"

"GUYS!" bellowed Harry angrily, "Malf-_**Draco's**_ on our side! He's _**not **_a Death Eater, ok?"

"Hey, Harry," Seamus asked, strolling up to him, "Since when did you start calling him '_**Draco**_'?"

Draco growled and charged down the steps until he was in front of Seamus, the small Irish man coming up to his chest. The boy gulped and glanced up into the fiery eyes of Draco. "I'll have you know, Finnegan, that he's been calling me that since I saved his life! And Granger and Weasley, so if you don't mind-"

"Saved their lives? Yeah right." Seamus said sceptically.

"He's right, Seamus. We got captured by Death Eaters, and he saved us." Dean interrupted, suddenly appearing and was attacked in a tight bear hug by his best friend.

"Well, if you say he's ok, Dean…" Seamus shrugged.

There was suddenly a massive influx of questions; as the group was bombarded from all angles. They nodded that yes, they had broken into Gringotts, and yes, they did escape on a dragon. Suddenly, Harry was overcome with an agonising pain in his scar, and ignoring the frightened shouts of the others, _he looked at Ron and Hermione, trying to tell them without words that Voldemort had just discovered the loss of one of the other Horcruxes. Time was running out fast: if Voldemort chose to visit Hogwarts next they would miss their chance,_

_ "We need to get going," he said, and their expression told him that they understood._

"_What are we going to do, then, Harry?" asked Seamus. "What's the plan?"_

"_Plan?" repeated Harry. He was exercising all his will power to prevent himself from succumbing again to Voldemort's rage: his scar was still burning. "Well, there's something we – Ron, Hermione, _Draco _and I – need to do, and then we'll get out of here."_

_Nobody was laughing or whooping any more. Neville looked confused._

"_What d'you mean, 'get out of here'?"_

"_We haven't come back to stay," said Harry, rubbing his scar, trying to soothe the pain, _unaware his action was copied simultaneously by another in the room. _"There's something important we need to do –"_

"_What is it?"_

"_I – I can't tell you."_

_There was a ripple of muttering at this: Neville's brows contracted._

"_Why can't you tell us? It's something to do with fighting You-Know-who, right?"_

"_Well, yeah-"_

"_Then we'll help you-"_

"As much as Potter would appreciate your help," A cold voice drawled, "I do believe we really need to get going. This is Potter's mission, we're just along for the help. Granger's the brains, Weasley's the…brawn?" He screwed up his face, "And I guess I have my uses. So, if you lot don't mind-" He drawled before being interrupted by George.

"_So what's the plan, Harry?" said George._

"_There isn't one" said Harry, still disorientated by the sudden appearance of all these people _– for Luna, Michael Corner, Fred, George, Lee Jordan, Cho and Ginny had just come through the door – _unable to take everything in while his scar was still burning so fiercely._

"_Just going to make it up as we go along, are we? My favourite kind," said Fred._

"_You've got to stop this!" Harry told Neville. "What did you call them all back for? This is insane-"_

"_We're fighting, aren't we?" said Dean, taking out his fake Galleon. "The message said Harry was back, and we were going to fight! I'll have to get a wand, though-"_

"_You haven't got a __**wand**__ -?" began Seamus._

_Ron turned suddenly to Harry._

"_Why can't they help?"_

"_What?"_

"_They can help." He dropped his voice and said, so that none of them could hear but Hermione, who stood between them. "We don't know where it is. We've got to find it fast. We don't have to tell them it's a Horcrux."_

Nodding in resignation, Harry turned to the sea of students, and taking a deep breath, trying to summarise the whole Horcrux situation – without revealing that the object in question was a Horcrux; only that they really needed in order to overthrow Voldemort.

Luna explained about Ravenclaw's diadem, filling Harry with hope – a feeling he hadn't experienced in the longest time. She led him out of the Room of Requirement and up the stairs to the Ravenclaw Common Room where they faced the House portrait.

_"Which came first, the phoenix or the flame?"_

Harry stared dumbfounded at the portrait, then at Luna who was gazing at it with a dreamy expression upon her pale face. He now wished he'd thought to bring one of the other with him – Hermione with her logic skills would flourish in this situation, as would Draco. Ron would probably stare at him with his usual bewildered expression, Harry thought with a fond grin, but at least they'd be in it together.

_"No, I see what you mean," Luna said seriously. "Well then, I think the answer is that a circle has no beginning."_

_ "Well reasoned," said the voice, and the door swung open._

_The deserted Ravenclaw Common Room was a wide, circular room, airier than Harry had ever seen at Hogwarts. Graceful arched windows punctuated the walls, which were hung with blue and bronze skills: by day, the Ravenclaws would have a spectacular view of the surrounding mountains. The ceiling was domed and painted with stars, which were echoed in the midnight blue carpet._

Brought out his thoughts of the unique beauty of the room, Harry approached the statue of Rowena Ravenclaw and read aloud the inscription on her tiara:

"_'Wit beyond measure is man's greatest treasure'."_

"_Which makes you pretty skint, witless." said a cackling voice._

_Harry whirled around, slipped off the plinth and landed on the floor. The sloping-shouldered finger of Alecto Carrow was standing before him, and even as Harry raised his wand, she pressed a stubby forefinger to the skull and snake branded on her forearm._

**OOOOOOO**

The pain of his burning scar overtook him so suddenly that his vision was blurred and he curled up, screaming quietly. He was brought out his agony when a loud bang echoed throughout the room, and once his vision cleared, he looked up into the mildly interested face of Luna, who admitted that she'd stunned Alecto Carrow and that the noise was a lot louder than she'd expected.

She was right – the booming noise had alerted everyone in the nearby vicinity and he quickly grabbed Luna and shoved her under the invisibility cloak, instantly joining her as they huddled together with their wands raised.

Yelling outside the common room announced that Alecto's brother Amycus was attempting to enter the room but was being thwarted by the portrait – much to Professor McGonagall's barely contained amusement, it seemed.

The door finally opened (once McGonagall had been forced to answer the portrait's question), and Amycus Carrow charged over to his sister before turning on McGonagall.

_"It's not a case of what __**you'll**__ permit, Minerva McGonagall. Your time's over. It's us what's in charge now, and you'll back me up or you'll pay the price."_

_ And he spat in her face._

_Harry pulled the cloak off of himself, raised his wand and said, "You shouldn't have done that."_

_ As Amycus spun round, Harry shouted, "__**Crucio**__!"_

Harry flinched at the Death Eater's screams penetrated his mind, and he turned to face the shocked Head of his house. He hurriedly explained to her about the diadem, and how he really needed to locate it. With a panicked look in her eyes, she eventually consented, and declared that she would unite with the other professors in securing the school against Voldemort for as long as possible.

Harry looked at her fondly for a brief moment, before heading back to the Room of Requirement as fast as his feet would carry him, before ordering everyone out and informing them of the latest developments. The students filtered out the room and down the many flights of stairs to the main hall, leaving Harry, Ron, Hermione and Draco to stare at each other.

"Right." said Ron, rubbing his hands together, "What's next then?"

**OOOO**

They hurried down the stairs just as the announcement of evacuations was made, and McGonagall was currently explaining the protection around Hogwarts-

_But her final words were drowned as a different voice echoed throughout the Hall. It was high, cold and clear: there was no telling from where it came; it seemed to issue from the walls themselves. Like the monster it had one commanded, it might have lain dormant there for centuries._

_ "I know that you are preparing to fight." There were screams amongst the students, some of whom clutched each other, looking around in terror for the source of the sound. "Your efforts are futile. You cannot fight me. I do not want to kill you. I have great respect for the teachers of Hogwarts. I do not want to spill magical blood."_

_ There was silence in the Hall now, the kind of silence that presses against the eardrums, that seems too huge to be contained by walls. _

_ "Give me Harry Potter," said Voldemort's voice, "and none shall be harmed. Give me Harry Potter, and I shall leave the school untouched. Give me Harry Potter, and you shall be rewarded._

_ "You have until midnight."_

The silence continued, as Harry spun wordlessly to Ron and Hermione, who were staring at them in was hyperventilating, panting breaths escaping from quivering lips and his fists were clenched and shaking at his sides. Reaching out to him and drawing him into the huddled group, he murmured, "I have an idea."

Hermione and Ron instantly nodded, still pale-faced. They'd agree with him no matter what, if it brought about the downfall of Voldemort. Harry, however, was still extremely worried about Draco – he was still gasping for breath despite being close to the trio. "Draco?" he asked tentatively, clutching the blonde's shoulder.

"I..." he gulped. "Sorry...it was like I was back. Back at the Manor." He shook his head as if to rid it of the morbid thoughts, "What can I do?"

Harry grimaced as he furiously rubbed his scar again, "Um. I'm going to go look for the diadem. Can you guys try and find something to destroy the remainders with?"

The trio nodded resolutely and hurried away together. Harry stared after them for the moment, basking in the memory of Draco running alongside Hermione and Ron, before he left the Great Hall in search of Ravenclaw's diadem.

**OOOOO**

After an extremely peculiar conversation with the Grey Lady of Ravenclaw, where she eventually revealed where the Diadem was hidden – in the Room of Hidden Things, he ran back into Hermione and Ron who thrust a pile of Basilisk fangs at him. He stared wordlessly at them for a second and then suddenly Ron and Hermione were locked at the lips-

_"Is this the moment?" Harry asked weakly, and when nothing happened except that Ron and Hermione gripped each other still more firmly and swayed on the spot, he raised his voice. "OI! There's a war going on here!"_

_ Ron and Hermione broke apart, their arms still around each other._

"_I know, mate," said Ron, who looked as though he had recently been hit on the back of the head with a Bludger, "so it's now or never, isn't it?"_

_ "Never mind that, what about the Horcrux?" Harry shouted. "D'you think you could just – just hold it in until we've got the diadem?"_

_ "Yeah – right – sorry - " said Ron, and he and Hermione set up gathering up fangs, both pink in the face._

"Hey, Harry..." Hermione suddenly said, "Where's Draco?"

Harry stopped dead, halfway up one of the staircases and he spun round to face them, horror-struck, "I thought he was with you!"

"He spooked out in the chamber, once he saw the Basilisk," Hermione said solemnly, eyes wide, "Once we got back out of the bathroom, he was with us, and then...he wasn't. I thought he'd come down here."

"You don't think..." Ron trailed off, a curious expression on his face and he bit his lip. "You don't think he's gone off with the Slytherin's...do you?"

"He's on our side, Ron!" Harry hissed fiercely.

"Yeah, but they're his friends, Harry! Pansy and Blaise are dead, he's maybe gone to find Crabbe and Goyle." Hermione suggested. "We'll find him, Harry."

**OOOO**

_**I need the place where everything is hidden**, Harry begged of it, inside his head, and the door materialised on their third run past._

_ The furore of the battle died the moment they crossed the threshold and closed the door behind them: all was silent. They were in a place the size of a cathedral with the appearance of a city, its towering walls built of objects hidden by thousands of long-gone students._

_ "And he never realised **anyone **could get in?" said Ron, his voice echoing in the silence._

_ "He thought he was the only one," said Harry. "Too bad for him I've had to hide stuff in my time...this way," he added. "I think it's down here."_

_ He passed the stuff troll and the Vanishing Cabinet Draco Malfoy had mended last year with such disastrous consequences, then hesitated, looking up and down aisles of junk; he could not remember where to do next..._

_ "**Accio** diadem," cried Hermione in desperation, but nothing flew through the air towards them. It seemed that, like the vaults at Gringotts, the room would not yield its hidden objects that easily._

_ "Let's split up," Harry told the other two, "Look for a stone bust of an old man wearing a wig and a tiara! It's standing on a cupboard and it's definitely somewhere near here..."_

_ They sped off up adjacent aisles; Harry could hear the others' footsteps echoing through the towering piles of junk, of bottles, hats, crates, chairs, books, weapons, broomsticks, bats..._

_ "Somewhere near here," Harry muttered to himself. "Somewhere...somewhere."_

_ Deeper and deeper into the labyrinth he went, looking for objects he recognised from his one previous trip into the room. His breath was loud in his ears, and then his very soul seemed to shiver: there it was, right ahead, the blistered old cupboard in which he had hidden his old Potions book, and on top of it, the pock-marked stone warlock wearing a dusty, old wig and what looked like an ancient, discoloured tiara._

_ He had already stretched out his hand, though he remained ten feet away, when a voice behind him said, "Hold it, Potter."_

_ He skidded to a halt and turned round. Crabbe and Goyle were standing behind him, shoulder to shoulder, wands pointing right at Harry. Through the small space between their jeering faces, he saw Draco Malfoy._

"Stop right there, Potter." Draco raised his wand up between Harry's eyes, shaking as he suddenly looked away from Harry's narrowed eyes, "Lower...your wand."

"Draco..."

"_**Draco**_?" scoffed Crabbe, with an uncharacteristic grin stretching out on his chubby face as he turned around to stare at the smaller boy, "Since when do he call you 'Draco', Malfoy?"

Draco's eyes went impossibly wide and his jaw clamped shut. He furiously shook his head at Crabbe and Goyle, refusing to look at Harry who was staring at him in shock.

"Malfoy." Crabbe repeated menacingly.

Draco's lips flew open and he stuttered out, "Uh...I..." He blinked rapidly. It was clear the situation was spiralling completely out of his control.

"Who's side are you on, Malfoy?" Goyle grunted. "You ain't so powerful anymore. If you're on his side, you're done for. Your parents are done for."

Draco stepped forward, his wand hand wavering as he moved his wand from Harry to focus on Goyle. "Are..." He licked his lips and coughed, "Are they..."

"They're alive. Just." Goyle chucked darkly, "Dunno why. They was really hurt, hurt bad."

Draco audibly gulped, and he turned to look at Harry and his eyes widened, before he turned back to face Crabbe and Goyle, his thin body trembling. "What..."

"Who's side are you on, Malfoy?" Crabbe roared loudly, causing Draco to flinch violently. We're gonna take Potter."

"N-no."

"Oh, so you're gonna do it? I don't think so." Crabbe chuckled.

_"Harry?" Ron's voice echoed suddenly from the other side of the wall to Harry's right. "Are you talking to someone?"_

_ With a whip-like movement, Crabbe pointed his wand at the fifty-foot mountain of old furniture, of old books and roves and unidentifiable junk and shouted, "**Descendo**!"_

_ The wall began to totter, then crumbled into the aisle next door where Ron stood._

_ "Ron!" Harry bellowed, as somewhere out of sight Hermione screamed, and Harry heard innumerable objects crashing to the floor on the other side of the destabilised wall: he pointed his wand at the rampart, cried "**Finite**!" and it steadied._

_ "No!" shouted Malfoy,_ finally finding his voice as he made to grab Crabbe's wand, "You'll kill us all!"

"Might be better for most of us," Crabbe mocked, "The Dark Lord's gonna kill Potter, and you're already dead. If Potter don't kill you for being a traitor, then we will."

"But..." Malfoy stuttered, face draining of all colour.

"Aww, did Potter think you were friends?" Crabbe cackled loudly, then his grin widened as he stared at Draco, "Or did you think you was friends? You should know Malfoy – you have no friends. We never liked you."

Draco gasped quietly, and raised his wand and shifted it from Crabbe to Goyle and back again. It was clear he was panicking.

"Did we hurt your feelings?" Goyle giggled, "Too bad. _**Crucio**_!"

Draco's screams bounced off the walls of the cavernous room, and he sank to the floor on his hands and knees, gazing up at Goyle through his platinum fringe.

"Get used to it, Malfoy. You make it out here alive, the Dark Lord's gonna do much worse than that to you." he said ominously.

Draco groaned before slowly pushing himself up off the floor, grey eyes flickering back to gaze at Harry, before glaring menacingly at Goyle. "Leave me alone."

_"Harry?" shouted Ron again from the other side of the junk wall. "What's going on?"_

_ "'Harry'?" mimicked Crabbe. "What's going – **no**, Potter! **Crucio**!"_

_Harry had lunged for the tiara; Crabbe's curse had missed him but hit the stone burst, which flew into the air; the diadem soared upwards and then dropped out of sight in the mass of objects on which the bust had rested._

_ "**STOP**!" Malfoy shouted at Crabbe, his voice echoing through the enormous room. "The Dark Lord want him alive-"_

_ "So? I'm not killing him, am I?" yelled Crabbe, throwing off Malfoy's restraining arm, "but if I can, I will, the Dark Lord wants him dead anyway, what's the diff-?"_

_ A jet of scarlet shot past Harry by inches: Hermione had run round the corner behind him and sent a Stunning Spell straight at Crabbe's head. It only missed because Malfoy pulled him out of the way._

_ "It's that Mudblood! **Avada Kedavra**!"_

_Harry saw Hermione dive aside and his fury that Crabbe had aimed to kill wiped all else from his mind. He shot a stunning spell at Crabbe, who lurched out of the way, knocking Malfoy's wand out of his hand; it rolled out of sight beneath a mountain of broken furniture and boxes._

_ "Don't kill him! **DON'T KILL HIM**!" Malfoy yelled at Crabbe and Goyle, who were both aiming at Harry: their split second's hesitation was all Harry needed._

_ "**Expelliarmus**!" _

_Goyle's wand flew out of his hand and disappeared into the bulwark of objects beside him: Goyle leapt foolishly on the spot, trying to retrieve it; Malfoy jumped out of range of Hermione's second Stunning Spell and Ron, appearing suddenly at the end of the aisle, shot a full Body-Bind Curse at Crabbe , which narrowly missed._

_ Crabbe wheeled around and screamed, "**Avada Kedavra**!" again._

_Ron leapt out of sight to avoid the jet of green light, The wandless Malfoy cowered behind a three-legged wardrobe as Hermione charged towards them, hitting Goyle with a Stunning Spell as she came._

_ "It's somewhere here!" Harry yelled at her, pointing at the pile of junk into which the old tiara had fallen. "Look for it while I go help R-"_

_ "**HARRY**!" she screamed._

_A roaring, billowing noise behind him gave him a moment's warning. He turned and saw both Ron and Crabbe running as hard as they could up the aisle towards them._

_ "Like it hot, scum?" roared Crabbe as he ran._

_But he seemed to have no control over what he had done. Flames of abnormal size were pursuing them, licking up the sides of the junk bulwarks, which were crumbling to soot at their touch._

Harry tried to cast _**Aguamenti**_ at the flames – but the water evaporated instantly He spun around, searching in a panic for her friends, and saw Ron and Hermione only just behind him. Draco, Crabbe and Goyle had vanished – seemingly into thin air. Harry cast his eyes around as he ran, searching for a flash on blonde – but none appeared.

The trio were backed into a corner – seemingly trapped. Scanning for an escape and seeing none, he turned to his best friends in horror, only to see Ron holding three broomsticks with a smile on his face. There was still hope – they _**could **_survive this.

Launching himself into the air, followed closely by Ron and Hermione, they flew high above the towering inferno, piles of furniture and old belongings quickly turning to dust from the intense heat. As they neared the door, Harry heard a pitiful human scream from the depths of the flames, and turned his harshly trying to locate the owner.

"Draco..." he breathed in horror as he saw them:

_Malfoy with his arms around the unconscious Goyle, the pair of them perched on a fragile tower of perched desks, and Harry dived. Malfoy saw him coming, and raised one arm, but even as Harry grasped it he knew at once that it was no good: Goyle was too heavy and Malfoy's hand, covered in sweat, slid instantly out of Harry's-_

_ "IF WE DIE FOR THEM, I'LL KILL YOU, HARRY!" roared Ron's voice, and as a great, flaming Chimaera bore down upon them he and Hermione _tried to grasp Goyle's hand, but he was too heavy – even with their combined weight trying to lug him onto their broom, and as he reached out, he slipped, and fell down to the fiery depths of the floor below as Draco screamed after him as he clutched onto Harry.

Harry, momentarily deafened, turned away from the flames and dived downwards, just managing to catch the diadem in amongst the flames. Swerving to dodge the burning heat, the group managed to slip out of the door and suddenly, they were in the corridor, on their backs, gasping and retching.

Harry turned his head to look at Draco, who was crouched against the wall, sitting down as he looped his arms around his knees, burrowed his sooty head into his arms, and his shoulder began to shake. Hermione and Ron were embracing, Hermione was brushing ashes out of Ron's hair as she kissed him on the nose. "We're ok, we're ok," she murmured softly as Ron burrowed his head into her shoulder.

Giving them some peace, Harry made his way over to Draco, and lowered himself onto the ground. There was no reaction from the shaking blonde, so Harry tentatively called out, "Draco?"

"They're dead." Draco whispered hoarsely, his voice muffled from underneath his arms. "Vince and Greg are dead."

Harry reached out an hand to place on a trembling shoulder, "I know, I'm sorry."

"I don't...I don't know why they turned against me. I tried to bring them over, Harry. I did."

Harry smiled sadly. What Draco had admitted to, Harry could say the same thing about the Slytherin. "I know. Just...what happened in there, Draco?" He asked cautiously, not noticing Hermione and Ron pick up the crumbling diadem and stare at each other in shock.

"I...I had to let them believe I was on there side, or they would have killed us all. Now they're dead, and I never got to apologise." He sniffed wetly.

"Harry! Look!" Ron interrupted, glancing only briefly at the situation on the floor, "The Horcrux...the fire destroyed it, Harry!"

"But of course!" Hermione said in awe, "Fiendfyre!"

"Care to share with the rest of the class, Hermione?" Harry said dully, taking in Hermione's ecstatic expression.

_"Fiendfyre – cursed fire – it's one of the substances that destroy Horcruxes, but I would never, ever have dared to use it, it's so dangerous. How did Crabbe know how to -?"_

_ "Must've learned from the Carrows," said Harry grimly._

"_Shame he wasn't concentrating when they mentioned how to stop it, really," said Ron, whose hair like Hermione's was singed, and whose face was blackened, "If he hadn't tried to kill us all, I'd be quiet sorry he was dead."_

A low growl from Draco reminded them of his presence. "Don't talk about him like that!" The blonde snapped, lifting himself off the floor to glare at Ron.

"No-one asked your opinion, traitor!" Ron snarled maliciously, "By all rights, you should be dead too! He tried to kill us, so I'll talk about him how I damn well please!"

"Look, Weasley-" Draco began desperately before he was interrupted by a furious red-head.

"Who's side are you even on, Malfoy? Neither side wants you, so you just keep floating between the two! Make up your bloody mind, you traitor!"

Draco's mouth slammed shut and his face went ghostly white. "Weasley. I've just lost one of my best friends. Someone I've known for my whole life. Can you please just yell at me when all this is...over, please?

The group stared at each other for a long moment, the silence deafening despite the loud booms sounding out from around them; the flashing lights and explosions mingled with the shouts and screams of all the witches and wizards in battle.

_Harry looked around and his heart seemed to fail: Death Eaters had penetrated Hogwarts. Fred and Percy had just backed into view, both of them duelling masked and hooded men._

_ Harry, Ron and Hermione, _followed somewhat reluctantly by a pale, trembling Draco, _ran forwards to help: jets of light flew in every direction and the man duelling Percy backed off fast: then his hood slipped and they saw a high forehead and streaked hair-_

_ "Hello, Minister!" bellowed Percy, sending a neat jinx straight at Thicknesse, who dropped his wand and clawed at the front of his robes, apparently in awful discomfort. "Did I mention I'm resigning?"_

_ "You're joking, Perce!" shouted Fred, as the Death Eater he was battling collapsed under the weight of three separate Stunning Spells. Thicknesse had fallen to the ground with tiny spikes erupting all over him; he seemed to be turning into some form of sea urchin. Fred looked at Percy with glee._

_ "You actually **are** joking, Perce...I don't think I've ever heard you joke since you were-"_

_ The air exploded. They had been grouped together, Harry, Ron, Hermione, _Draco, _Fred and Percy, the two Death Eaters at their feet, one Stunned, the other Transfigured: and in that fragment of a moment, when danger seemed, temporarily, at bay, the world was rent apart. Harry felt himself flying through the air, and all he could do was hold as tightly as possible to that thin stick of wood that was his one and only weapon, and shield his head in his arms: he heard the screams and yells of his companions without a hope of knowing what had happened to them -_

_ And then the world resolved itself into pain and semi-darkness: he was half buried in the wreckage of a corridor that had been subjected to a terrible attack: cold air told him that the side of the castle had been blown away and hot stickiness on his cheek told him that he was bleeding copiously. Then he heard a terrible cry that pulled at his insides, that expressed agony neither flame nor curse could cause, and he stood up, swaying, more frightened than he had been that day, more frightened, perhaps, than he had been in his life..._

_ And Hermione was struggling to her feet in the wreckage, and three red-headed men were grouped on the ground where the wall had blasted apart. Harry grabbed Hermione's hand as they staggered and stumbled over stone and wood._

_ "No-no-no!" someone was shouting. "No! Fred! No!"_

_And Percy was shaking his brother, and Ron was kneeling beside them, and Fred's eyes stared without seeing, the ghost of his last laugh still etched upon his face._

_**OOOOO**_

**A/N: ****Sorry for leaving it there! But you know what happens...god dammit JK for killing Fred * cries ***

**Sorry for the length! I didn't realise it was that long! **


	8. Chapter 7

**A/N: -****coughs awkwardly- Um...hey! C'est moi! Finally! Sorry, been snowed under with coursework, and it might be a couple of weeks before the next update as I have even more coursework due! -sighs- **

**Anyhoo, here is the section with Snape;s death...have some Kleenex ready! Yeah, and it's quite short, more sort of a filler/build-up to the next chapter which I'll work on when I'm not doing coursework. As I said though, might take a couple of weeks! =]**

**Chapter 7 – The Princes of Slytherin.**

The tortured screams of Harry's classmates and other wizards echoed around the Great Hall; the battle moving from corridor to corridor, up and down the moving staircases, walls being destroyed in corridors, suits of armours being disintegrated from explosive spells, blood running down the walls...Harry whirled around, trying to keep Ron from charging over to his fallen brother, Hermione helping him hold back the sobbing red-head. Finally, they managed to somewhat calm him down and persuade him that stopping this, finding the Horcruxes and ending Voldemort was the surest way to end this. Harry closed his eyes and looked inside Voldemort's mind, finding his location to be with Lucius Malfoy who was desperately inquiring after his missing son.

Pulling himself out and opening his eyes, he breathed out, "He's in the Shrieking Shack. He's not even doing anything, he's just sitting there-"

"He's not fighting?"

"He doesn't need to. The Death Eater's are doing it for him, Ron. Come on!" And they charged off down another set of stairs, hidden under the invisibility cloak as they weaved in and out of Death Eaters and duelling wizards before they heard a familiar screech;

_"I'm Draco Malfoy, I'm Draco, I'm on your side!"_

_Draco was on the upper landing, pleading with another masked Death Eater. _"Please just tell me where they are! Please and I'll help-" He was interrupted by Harry stunning the Death Eater _as they passed: Malfoy looked around, beaming, for his saviour, and Ron punched him from under the Cloak. Malfoy fell backwards on top of the Death Eater, his mouth bleeding, utterly bemused._

_ "And that's the second time we've saved your life tonight, you two-faced bastard!" Ron yelled_, as Harry thrust out a hand, clutched Draco's and harshly yanked him up off the floor.

A crimson tinge appeared on Draco's face as he bit his lip and ducked his head. "I'm sorry, I was trying to find out about my parents-"

"Not now, Draco." Ron snarled, "We've got stuff to do!"

And the foursome flew down the stairs, stopping to blast Fenrir Greyback away from Lavender Brown and stop momentarily to watch Professor Trelawney launch enormous crystal spheres through the window and down onto the grounds. They successfully dodged their way through the maze of wizards, jumping out of the way of all types of spells, Harry having to jerk Draco out of the way of a stunner. "Watch where you're going, Draco!"

Draco didn't reply. His grey eyes were scanning the sea of wizards, his mouth slightly open and his brows furrowed. "Harry," He muttered," I can't see them...where..."

Harry squeezed his shoulder, "They'll be around somewhere." He turned his head to face the other two, "We need to move. Quickly."

But the foursome froze on the spot as an overwhelming wave of despair greeted them. The dementors had arrived, and cursing their poor luck, the Gryffindor trio pulled out their wands and cast the Patronus charm, repeatedly trying to repel the Dementors away. Glancing at Draco, Harry was not at all surprised to see the blonde with his wand raised to chest level, his hand shaking as he muttered, "E-Exp-pec-pecto P-p-p" He shivered violently and screwed up his eyes, "Leave them alone."

Harry didn't want to know what bad memories the Dementors revealed in Draco, he was too concerned over his, and finally, the Dementors vanished and they was an loud sigh of relief from all of them as Luna, Ernie and Seamus joined into help. After thanking them, the foursome made their way to the Whomping Willow, clutching their aching sides and gasping for breaths and their hearts pounded in their rib-cages from fear and from the exercise. Once they were successfully under the Whomping Willow, they threw themselves back under the cloak, casting a Disillusionment Charm to avoid their feet being revealed, and hiding in the corner, a conversation between Voldemort and Snape was revealed, Draco tensing beside him, and Hermione quietly gasping.

_"...my Lord, their resistance is crumbling-"_

"_-and it is doing so without your help," said Voldemort, in his high, clear voice. "Skilled wizard though you are, Severus, I do not think you will make much difference now. We are almost there...almost."_

_ "Let me find the boy. Let me bring you Potter. I know I can find him, my Lord. Please."_

_Snape strode past the gap, and Harry drew back a little, keeping his eyes fixed upon Nagini, wondering whether there was any spell that might penetrate the protection surrounding her, but he could not think of anything. One failed attempt, and he would give away his position..._

_ Voldemort stood up, Harry could see him now, see the red eyes, the flattened, serpentine face, the pallor of him gleaming slightly in the semi-darkness._

_ "I have a problem, Severus." said Voldemort softly._

"_My Lord?" said Snape._

_Voldemort raised the Elder Wand, holding it as delicately and precisely as a conductor's baton._

"_Why doesn't it work for me, Severus?"_

_In the silence, Harry imagined he could hear the snake's hissing slightly as it coiled and uncoiled, or was it Voldemort's sibilant sigh lingering on the air?_

_ "My-my Lord? Said Snape blankly. "I do not understand. You- you have performed extraordinary magic with that wand."_

_ "No," said Voldemort. "I have performed my usual magic. I am extraordinary, but this wand...no. It has been revealed the wonders it has promised. I feel no difference between this wand and the one I procured from Ollivander all those years ago."_

_ Voldemort's tone was musing, calm, but Harry's scar had begun to throb and pulse: pain was building in his forehead and he could feel that controlled sense of fury building inside Voldemort._

_ "No difference," said Voldemort again._

_Snape did not speak. Harry could not see his face: he wondered whether Snape sensed danger, was trying to find the right words, to reassure his master._

_ Voldemort started to move around the room: Harry lost sight of him for seconds as he prowled, speaking in that same measured voice, while the pain and fury mounted in Harry._

_ "I have thought long and hard, Severus...do you know why I have called you back from the battle?"_

_ And for a moment Harry saw Snape's profile: his eyes were fixed upon the coiling snake in its enchanted cage._

_ "No, my Lord, but I beg you will let me return. Let me find Potter."_

"_You sound like Lucius." _Here Draco tensed, and Harry reached out to still him, squeezing his shoulder softly. _"Neither of you understands Potter as I do. He does not need finding. Potter will come to me. I know his weakness, you see, his one great flaw. He will hate watching the others struck down around him, knowing that it is for him that it happens. He will want to stop it at any cost. He will come."_

_ "But my Lord, he might be killed accidentally by one other than yourself-"_

"_My instructions to my Death Eaters have been perfectly clear. Capture Potter. Kill his friends – the more, the better – but do not kill him._

_ "But it is of you that I wished to speak, Severus, not Harry Potter. You have been very valuable to me. Very valuable."_

_ "My Lord knows I seek only to serve him. But – let me go and find the boy, my Lord. Let me bring him to you. I know I can-"_

_ "I have told you, no!" said Voldemort, and Harry caught the glint of red in his eyes as he turned again, and the swishing of his cloak was like the slithering of a snake, and he felt Voldemort's impatience in his burning scar. "My concern at the moment, Severus, is what will happen when I finally meet the boy!"_

_ "My Lord, there can be no question, surely-?"_

"_-but there is a question, Severus. There is."_

_ Voldemort halted, and Harry could see him plainly again as he slid the Elder Wand through his white fingers, staring at Snape._

_ "Why did both the wands I have used fail when directed at Harry Potter?"_

"_I-I cannot answer that, my Lord."_

"_Can't you?"_

_The stab of rage felt like a spike driven through Harry's head: he forced his own fist into his mouth to stop himself from crying out in pain. He closed his eyes, and suddenly he was Voldemort, looking into Snape's pale face._

_ "My wand of yew did everything of which I asked it, Severus, except to kill Harry Potter. Twice it failed. Ollivander told me under torture of the twin cores, told me to take another's wand. I did so, but Lucius's shattered upon meeting Potter's."_

_ "I-I have no explanation, my Lord."_

_Snape was not looking at Voldemort now. His dark eyes were still fixed upon the coiling serpent in its protective sphere._

_ "I sought a third wand, Severus. The Elder Wand, the Wand of Destiny, the Deathstick. I took it from its previous master. I took it from the grave of Albus Dumbledore."_

_ And now Snape looked at Voldemort, and Snape's face was like a death mask. It was marble white and so still that when he spoke it was a shock to see that anyone lived behind the blank eyes._

_ "My Lord – let me go to the boy - "_

"_All this long night, when I am on the brink of victory, I have sat here," said Voldemort, his voice barely louder than a whisper, "wondering, wondering, why the Elder Wand refuses to be what it ought to be, refuses to perform as legend says it must perform for its rightful owner...and I think I have the answer."_

_ Snape did not speak._

"_Perhaps you already know it? You are a clever man, after all, Severus. You have been a good and faithful servant, and I regret what must happen."_

_ "My Lord -"_

"_The Elder Wand cannot serve me properly, Severus, because I am not its true master. The Elder Wand belongs to the wizard who killed its last owner. You killed Albus Dumbledore. While you live, Severus, the Elder Wand cannot truly be mine."_

_ "My Lord!" Snape protested, raising his wand._

"_It cannot be any other way," said Voldemort. "I must master the wand, Severus. Master the wand, and I master Potter at last."_

_ And Voldemort swiped the air with the Elder Wand. It did nothing to Snape, who for a split second seemed to think he had been reprieved: but then Voldemort's intention became clear. The snake's cage was rolling through the air, and before Snape could do anything more than yell, it had encased him, head and shoulders, and Voldemort spoke in Parseltongue._

_ "**Kill**."_

_There was a terrible scream, Harry saw Snape's face losing the little colour it had left, it whitened as his black eyes widened, as the snake's fangs pierced his neck, as he failed to push the enchanted cage off himself, as his knees gave way, and he fell to the floor._

_ "I regret it," said Voldemort coldly._

_He turned away; there as no sadness in him, no remorse. It was time to leave this shack and take charge, with a wand that would now do his full bidding. He pointed it at the starry cage holding the snake, which drifted upwards, off Snape, who fell sideways on to the floor, blood gushing from the wounds in his neck. Voldemort swept from the room without a backwards glance, and the great serpent floated after him in its huge protective sphere._

_ Back in the tunnel and his own mind, Harry opened his eyes: he had drawn blood, biting down on his knuckles in the effort not to shout out. Now he was looking through the tiny crack between crate and wall, watching a foot in a black boot trembling on the floor._

_ "Harry!" breathed Hermione behind him, but he had already pointed his wand at the the crate blocking his view. It lifted an inch into the air and drifted sideways, silently. As quietly as he could, he pulled himself up into the room._

Bending down and staring into Snape's tortured eyes, filled with pain as he gasped out, tears streaming down his face as he ordered Harry to take them, Hermione and Ron hovering awkwardly in the doorway, not knowing how to act, Draco turned away beside them, shoulders tense.

Nodding, and gulping, the sound echoing in the vast boathouse, he gathered the tears, staring in horror as he let Snape look into his eyes a final time.

_The green eyes found the black, but after a second, something in the depths of the dark pair seemed to vanish, leaving them fixed, blank and empty. The hand holding Harry thudded to the floor, and Snape moved no more._

…...

**A/N: Seemed like a fitting place to end it! But dear god, that bit destroyed me, in both the book and the movie! **


	9. Chapter 8

**A/N: ** I am SO sorry! I started a new job and we had to do uni work over the summer and I moved out my flat and back in with my parents, so yeah. Life's a little bit hectic. And, as I've just started back at uni (my final year, WELP!), I wanted to get this fic finished - not too long left! - before I got snowed under with coursework!

So...previously, on _The Kids From Yesterday._

_Bending down and staring into Snape's tortured eyes, filled with pain as he gasped out, tears streaming down his face as he ordered Harry to take them, Hermione and Ron hovering awkwardly in the doorway, not knowing how to act, Draco turned away beside them, shoulders tense._

_Nodding, and gulping, the sound echoing in the vast boathouse, he gathered the tears, staring in horror as he let Snape look into his eyes a final time._

_The green eyes found the black, but after a second, something in the depths of the dark pair seemed to vanish, leaving them fixed, blank and empty. The hand holding Harry thudded to the floor, and Snape moved no more._

**Chapter 8 - Goodbye's Aren't Forever.**

The group remained huddled around the now still form of their ex-Potions teacher, each of their young faces stamped with shock and horror at the sight before them. Harry's mind was in turmoil, having lately begun to reconsider his opinion on the greasy-haired man, and beside him, Draco let out a soft noise of protest at the man he had idolized and confided in all these years being reduced to this, causing Harry to reach out a hand to grip at the bony shoulder, the brief touch comforting them both somewhat.

They respectfully gave Severus Snape a moment of silence, each lost in their own thoughts and memories of the man, before Voldermort's cruel, cold voice hissed in through the building, the sound reverbating around, filling their very minds with no thought of escape.

_"You have fought," said the high, cold voice, "valiantly. Lord Voldemort knows how to value bravery._

_"Yet you have sustained heavy losses. If you continue to resist me, you will all die, one by one. I do not wish this to happen. Every drop of magical blood spilled is a loss and a waste._

_"Lord Voldemort is merciful. I command my forces to retreat, immediately._

_"You have one hour. Dispose of your dead with dignity. Treat your injured._

_"I speak now, Harry Potter, directly to you. You have permitted your friends to die for you rather than face me yourself. I shall wait for one hour in the Forbidden Forest. If, at the end of that hour, you have not come to me, have not given yourself up, then battle recommences. This time, I shall enter the fray myself, Harry Potter, and I shall find you, and I shall punish every last man, woman and child who has tried to conceal you from me. One hour."_

It was a long moment before anyone dared to utter a word, and surprisingly enough, it was Ron who was the voice of reason, Hermione following close behind as the twosome begged their best friend not to listen to the hissed words. Draco had wondered away and placed his fingers in his ears - the action pointless as Voldemorts' words still penetrated his frazzled mind- and had dropped down to crouch in front of Snape. He muttered something softly, his thin shoulder shaking ever so slightly, before he reached forward and brushed his fingers in front of Snape's face, closing his eyes. "There..." He whispered to himself, his soft voice carrying across to the trio. "Now he could be sleeping. Goodnight, Professor."

He stood up and cast a final glance at Snape, before following the others out of the Shreiking Shack, and no-one commented on the fact that his bottom lip was trembling quite violently.

As the foursome cautiously made their way back up to the towering castle, they were deeply suspicious of the lack of activity, the vast space devoid of any noise, of any fighting. Blood was splattered across the grounds and floors of the building, large sections of the walls blasted to pieces, priceless gems and jewels from the stained-glass windows smashed beyond repair.

They entered the Great Hall, the four of them raising their arms as one to push the large wooden doors open, taking in the sight of all the survivors having congregated in one area, and Harry was shaking with relief at the view of his loved ones, all his friends nearby. He left a soft smile grace his dirty, tired face, before it quickly fell away at seeing the dead wizards and witches lining the floor, large numbers of them placed in the centre of the room. Too afraid to examine them, but knowing he had no choice, he tentatively stepped forward and gasped at a familiar group of red-heads surrounding a fallen family member. Hermione, tactfully stepped foward and pulled Ginny into her arms, whilst Ron launched forward, clutching at whoever he could, desperate to get to Fred.

His breath hitched painfully at seeing Remus Lupin and Nymphadora Tonks still and pale on the floor, hands only inches from the other. He sniffled and screwed up his eyes, determined not to lose it in front of the others, before he felt fingers trail up his back and rest on his shoulder.

"It's alright to cry, you know." The quiet voice of Draco Malfoy murmured soothingly, as said blonde squeezed his shoulder a little. "I won't judge you. I know how much they meant to you."

"I...I can't right now..." Harry admitted, glancing over at him and subconsciously leaning into his touch. "I have a job to do, and I can't afford to lose it. I can do that later, if I surv-"

"Don't say that!" The blonde hissed angrily, his eyes flashing with danger. "Don't you see! You _have_ to survie, Po-Harry! We need you! Please don't say that!"

"I...alright, Draco. I...I need to go, alright? I need to end this. Please stay with them?" His eyes travelled over to his two best friends, one sobbing in the arms of his large family, the other doing her best to soothe him. "I can't lose them, Draco. They're my family too."

Draco nodded and pulled him into a rare and fleeting hug, before trotting over to hover awkwardly near the Weasley's, looking completely unsure of himself. Casting a fond glance at the blonde, Harry nodded, looked around the Great Hall one last time, and made his way up to Dumbledore's office, surprised, yet relieved that it hadn't changed one bit - with the exception of an empty portrait, boasting Albus Dumbledore's name.

While he was thrown into a memory of an old friend, as he now viewed him, his friends were running themselves ragged. Hermione was desperately trying to pull Ron away from Fred's body, lovingly persuading him that they had a job to do as she kissed his soot-covered forehead. It was Draco who dealt with the grief-stricken boy, strolling up to him, his face contorted with anger and determination.

"Potter's gone off to do some brave and stupidly heroic thing while you've been here! We don't have time for this, Weasley, and you can punch me later for what I'm about to say! Alright, so your brother's dead, and I'm aware that by dragging you off to fufil Potter's request will worry your Mother further, make her fear for the live of yet another son, but things need doing, Weasley!" He huffed out an agitated breath, tugging Ron out of the room by his collar, a shocked Hermione blinking, before charging after them.

Harry emerged from the pensieve, dazed and bewildered, and he flopped down on the stone steps at the front of Dumbledore's desk and buried his head in his hands. Wiping away the tears that squeezed out from his screwed up eyes, he gazed up at the empty portrait as if it held all the answers he desperately seeked.

Revelations slammed into Harry's mind, and it was with this calm demeanour that quickly fell over him, that the ebony-haired youth stood up straight, held his head up high and left one of his favourite rooms in the castle. He was going to die tonight, and he had already accepted his fate.

He briefly regretted not saying good-bye to his friends.

To Ron, his first friend in this confusing world. They had formed a friendship like that of most young boys - bonding over sweets. Harry, for once, had had money and with that he could purchase something that he could share with someone he wanted to do so with - a new experience in itself, and one to be treasured forever. It was always said that Ron was the weak one in the trio, not particularly intelligent, nor brave. But to Harry, that did not matter in the slightest. Ronald Billius Weasley was the most loyal friend anyone could ever ask for, and he knew that leaving him with Hermione was one of the best decisions he had ever made.

Ah, Hermione, his source of knowledge and confidence - an amazing friend in any situation. He would miss her dearly. The bushy-haired witch had annoyed him at first, and not that he would ever hit a girl, but when she had first strode into their carriage on that first day, demanding to know the whereabouts of Neville's toad, he had been sorely tempted. But then they had saved her from the Troll and had became fast friends, something Harry would never regret. He'd miss the way Hermione would mother and fuss over him, but she could project all of that onto Ron, now. And perhaps Draco.

And to Draco. The friendship with the pale-faced blonde had sprung almost out of nowhere, born from previous hatred and rivalvry. But then...had they ever truly hated each other? He saw himself in the blonde, in a sense. He was funny, quick-witted and easily amused, and no matter how hard he convinced himself otherwise, Harry knew he'd miss Draco as much as Hermione and Ron. He wished he'd taken his hand all those years ago. Perhaps things could have so much more different.

He shook his head, clearing it of the remaining dwelling thoughts, and took a deep breath. It was time to face his end.

He passed the fighting in the Great Hall in somewhat of a blur, having a rushed conversation with Neville in which he relayed the plea to kill Nagini - a matter of highest priority. He passed by Ginny, Hagrid's hut, the looming closeness of the dementors filling his heart with dread and his mind with tortured screams. Pushing himself, he strode by them, and let out a shuddering breath, before tugging out the Snitch on a moment of inspiration.

_I open at the close._

Nearly laughing at the absurdity and now obvious message etched into the golden ball, _he pressed the golden metal to his lips and whispered, "I am about to die."_

Confronted with the ghosts of his past as he turned the stone over thrice in his dirtied hand, Harry fought a war with himself, determined not to cry. His mother, Father, Sirius and Remus all gazed at him fondly, none looking shocked to see him there. With loving words of wisdom and comfort, their soothingly familiar voices gave Harry the courage he needed to confront Voldemort once and for all.

He nearly smirked victoriously as he heard the hissed whisper of Voldemort wonder as to where Harry was.

_"I was, it seems...mistaken," said Voldemort._

_'You weren't."_

_Harry said it as loudly as he could, with all the force he could muster: he did not want to sound afraid. The Resurrection Stone slipped from between his numb fingers and out of the corner of his eyes he saw his parents, Sirius and Lupin vanish as he stepped forwards into the firelight. At that moment he felt that nobody mattered but Voldemort. It was just the two of them._

Then suddenly it was just like someone had returned all the sound to the scene, the noise was overpowering and deafening, and it was all Harry could do not to curl up on the ground and thrust his fingers in his ears. The noise of Hagrid's pain-filled howls penetrated the air, and Harry forced himself not to look over at the half-giant, and instead focused on the very being that infiltrated his thoughts and plagued his nightmares.

_"Harry Potter," he said, very softly. His voice might have been part of the spitting fire. "The boy who lived."_

_None of the Death Eaters moved. They were waiting: everything was waiting..._

_Voldemort had raised his wand. His head was still tilted to one side, like a curious child, wondering what would happen in he proceeded. Harry looked back into the red eyes, and wanted it to happen now, quickly, while he could still stand, before he lost control, before he betrayed fear-_

_He saw the mouth move and a flash of green light, and everything was gone._

A few miles up back up at the castle, the battle was dragging on, many a witch and wizard had fallen, many being added to the still group in the centre.

Hermione and Ron were fighting as one entity, faces flashing with determination as they fought the Death Eaters, and Draco, meanwhile, was torn between looking for his parents, fighting with Granger and Weasley, or simply running. He couldn't handle this feeling that had risen in him. The panic, the fear. Harry had gone to fight Voldemort, he knew this without further thought, and it was quite possible that he was already -

No.

Potter wouldn't die.

He was too much of a hero for that.

And it was least Draco could do to take out as many Death Eaters as possible.

**A/N: ****Hope that was okay? Yet again, I'm SO sorry for the long wait, and I'll work harder to have the next chapter up soon, I promise! And sorry it's so short, it just felt right to leave it there.**

**Thank you for reading =D **

**Cat X**

**P.S. How many of you follow my Draco RP account on Tumblr? (hiddeninthemanor). -shameless self promoting-**


	10. Chapter 9 - Defeat of the Enemy

**A/N: I'm skipping over the entire King's Cross chapter – not because I don't like it or anything, on the contrary, I think it's a brilliant chapter, it simply just doesn't fit with my story. This chapter is the one that boasts one of the most truthful quotes, in my opinion:**

'**Of course it is happening inside your head, Harry, but why on earth should that mean that it is not real?' – Albus Dumbledore, p. 579.**

**I also wanted to churn this chapter out, and hopefully the rest before Christmas (or at least****January!) for a couple of reasons; largely coursework, and one of my friend's is reading the books for the first time. He's currently on the Order of the Phoenix, and I want to finish this fic before he needs the book! And sorry for the delay – I had some of this written, and then coursework attacked me, and I've had various problems with my eyes and so on.**

**Cat**

**X**

**Ps. This chapter largely centres around chapter 36 of The Deathly Hallows – 'The Flaw in the Plan'.**

Chapter 9 – Defeat of the Enemy.

Harry woke suddenly, but made no movement – two things registering at once. One, he wasn't in any pain, which was strange. He thought that having been in such close proximity to Voldemort, that his head would be splitting from the agonising pain coursing through his scar…but there was nothing there. And two, if he listened very carefully, he could hear the faint swish of cloaks fluttering in the wind, and the slight breathing nearby suggested that he was not alone.

Ah. The Forbidden Forest. Which was another strange thing in itself. If he were here, did that mean that he did not die? It couldn't bear thinking about, for if he were alive, then Voldemort most likely was too, meaning that Harry had failed. It had been a cunning plan, although he had been unaware of it at the time – sacrificing oneself for his friends was a noble thing indeed.

Harry bravely flickered one eye open, resisting the urge to gag as he realised he was on his side, inhaling mud and leaves. He tried to keep his body as still as possible, curious as to how the others would deal with what had just occurred. His breath hitched, unnoticeable to his audience, as he heard footsteps approach, a rustle of a cloak, and then…

_Hands, softer than he had been expecting, touched Harry's face, pulled back an eyelid, crept beneath his shirt, down to his chest and felt his heart. He could hear the woman's fast breathing, her long hair tickled his face. He knew that she could feel the steady pounding of life against his rib._

_ 'Is Draco alive? Is he in the castle?'_

_The whisper was barely audible; her lips were an inch from his ear, her head bent so low that her long hair shielded his face from the onlookers._

_ 'Yes,' he breathed back.'_

_He felt the hand on his chest contract; her nails pierced him. Then it was withdrawn. She had sat up._

_ 'He is dead!' Narcissa Malfoy called to the watchers._

_-X-X-X-_

Resisting the desire to cringe at the joyous cheers echoing around the forest, and screw up his eyes at the offending sparks emitting from their wands, thoughts raced through his mind. Narcissa Malfoy had now completely changed in Harry's mind, not that he'd had much of an opinion of her before, with the exception of a sneering blonde…rather like that of Draco, now that he thought about it. He was, however, unable to prevent the soft gasp that was torn from his lips as he heard Voldemort order Hagrid to carry Harry back to Hogwarts, malicious glee lacing his voice as he did so. Vowing to give Hagrid a hug later on, Harry made sure to stay still in the half-giant's tree-trunk like arms, sadness filling him as he heard and felt Hagrid's sobs.

The feeling intensified as he heard Professor McGonagall's shriek of despair at seeing her student, her friend encased in Hagrid's arms, his body unmoving and pale. Then the screams of his friends registered. Ron, Hermione, Ginny. No Draco, but perhaps he was too afraid of the conflict right now?

He inwardly did a victorious cheer as Neville – _Neville! _– defiantly stood up to Voldemort, delivering an award-winning, encouraging speech that whilst further enraging the Death Eaters, seemed to issue out courage to the exhausted Aurors, teachers, students and others, giving them the kick they needed to fight back just as well.

Over the fighting, a plan formulated in Harry's mind – one burdened with problems, but he disregarded them. It was now or never.

_Hidden beneath the Invisibility Cloak, Harry cast a Shield Charm between Neville and Voldemort before the latter could raise his wand. Then, over the screams, and the roars, and the thunderous stamps of battling giants, Hagrid's yell came loudest of all._

'_HARRY!' Hagrid shouted, 'HARRY – WHERE'S HARRY?'_

_Chaos reigned. The charging centaurs were scattering the Death Eaters, everyone was fleeing the giants' stamping feet, and nearer and nearer thundered the reinforcements that had come from who knew where; Harry saw great winged creatures soaring around the heads of Voldemort's giants, Thestrals and Buckbeak the Hippogriff scratching at their eyes while Grawp punched and pummelled them; and now the wizards, the defenders of Hogwarts and Voldemort's Death Eaters alike, were being forced back into the castle. Harry was shooting jinxes and curses at any Death Eater he could see, and they crumpled, not knowing what or who had hit them, and their bodies were trampled by the retreating crowd._

Weaving in and throughout all the commotion, Harry's eyes nervously scanned the crowds, searching for his friends, praying that they were safe. Realising that he had no choice but to continue, his face and body tense with determination and anticipation, he made his way through the masses, breath hitching as he saw Molly Weasley up against Bellatrix Lestrange. Fighting the urge to whoop as the latter which fell, dead from Molly's wand, before rage rose in him like a burning wave as Voldemort, livid, turned his wand upon the woman he viewed as a mother.

'_Protego!' roared Harry, and the Shield Charm expanded in the middle of the hall, and Voldemort stared around for the source as Harry pulled off of the Invisibility Cloak at last._

_ The yell of shock, the cheers, the screams on every side of 'Harry!' 'HE'S ALIVE!' were stifled at once. The crowd was afraid, and silence fell abruptly and completely as Voldemort and Harry looked at each other, and began, at the same moment, to circle each other._

Harry taunted Voldemort, playing to the insecurities the serpent-like man never had had before this moment, revelling as he revealed about the Horcruxes, how Harry continuously managed to survive, despite Voldemort's desperate efforts over the years. As each word spilled from Harry's lips, Voldemort's rage increased, magic crackling visibly as the true story of the Elder Wand was told for the first time to a captive, terrified audience, the story-teller standing straight, eyes narrowed the entire time.

'_The true master of the Elder and was Draco Malfoy.'_

_Blank shock showed in Voldemort's face for a moment, but then it was gone._

'_But what does it matter?' he said softly, 'Even if you are right, Potter, it makes no difference to you and me. You no longer have the phoenix wand: we duel on skill alone…and after I have killed you, I can attend to Draco Malfoy…'_

_ 'But you're too late,' said Harry, 'You've missed your chance. I got there first. _Draco has been with us since that night at Malfoy Manor, I stole his wand whilst he was unaware. You didn't know that, did you, Riddle?"

A deathly silence fell upon the audience, watching in horror as Voldemort's snake-like eyes narrowed into minuscule slits, his jaw clenching as Harry continued, almost monotonously, before he raised his wand, Draco's wand, just as the other male cast the killing curse, Harry immediately defending himself with '_Expelliarmus!'._

The hall exploded into a crescendo of noise and mayhem, spells flying through the air, nearby walls shattering into irreplaceable pieces. Boy and man fought for their lives, before suddenly, their spells collided, Voldemort's wand jumping out of his hand and whirling towards Harry's outstretched hand. Harry caught it with ease, just as Voldemort slumped to the floor, dead.

Harry simply stared at the fallen figure of his enemy, of the man, the thing who had been trying to kill him for so long. He didn't know what to do now. It didn't feel over, and from the sounds of fighting around him, it seemed like the others were with him on that matter.

Everything was a blur, and he felt hands gently leading him to the side, many others patting and clinging to him as he passed by. He raised his eyes up from the ground to focus on the shocked faces of Hermione and Ron, briefly spotting a pale golden figure launching himself at his parents, the three Malfoy's sobbing freely.

They had all survived. Mostly. It was with this thought that Harry too, launched forwards, tears falling from tired eyes framed by black shadows, shaking hands gripping at his best friends, all three huddled together. "He's really gone?" Harry murmured, disbelief shining clear in his voice.

"He's really gone." Hermione soothed softly, carding her fingers through Harry's tangled locks, holding him close, Ron's arm around her waist. "The Aurors are dealing with him now, and they're rounding up the last of the Death Eat-"

"No!" The protest was torn from Harry before he could formulate a decent argument, emerald eyes scanning the crowd, searching from blonde. "Not…they can't take him!"

-X-X-X-

Extricating himself from the arms of his stunned friends, Harry strode over to where Lucius Malfoy was being held by a group of Aurors, another holding Narcissa, whilst Draco cowered tearfully in the corner. Eyes flashing with anger and authority, Harry glared defiantly up at Kingsley Shacklebolt, wordlessly conveying his protest in regards to the proceedings.

"Harry…" Kingsley began reluctantly, cautiously, holding up a blood-covered hand to prevent Harry's protests. "We have to take Lucius Malfoy. Narcissa is merely coming in for questioning, and Draco too. We found some memories in Albus's pensieve – we know of Draco's innocence in association with Albus's death, but the fact remains that he has the Mark…do I have your cooperation?"

Harry couldn't really argue with that. "It seems fair enough to me." He nodded, averting his eyes so as not to focus on Draco's defeated expression. "But keep me in the loop – do not hide anything from me, Kingsley. Narcissa Malfoy saved my life, and Draco is my friend. Neither of them deserves Azkaban."

"And Lucius?"

"He deserves whatever you choose to give him." And ignoring the teary protests from the other Malfoy's, Harry strode back to his friends, who forced him up to the Infirmary.

-X-X-X-

It was bordering on a week before a tense Harry received any news as to the fate of the Malfoys. By this time, he had already received his Order of Merlin (forced to attend by Hermione, but that was neither here nor there), aided in an attempted clear up of Hogwarts, before he was practically kicked out by the reinstated Headmistress McGonagall, who stated quite seriously that, 'If I ever see you picking up another brick in this school, Potter, I shall make it very difficult for you to sit down. Now, before you go, take a biscuit." She wouldn't take no for an answer.

As well as that, he had attended the mass funerals that the wizarding community held. Harry didn't think he had ever cried so much, but afterwards, calmness had settled upon him, something he had never experienced in his seventeen years.

Which is why on that particular Sunday morning, he was surprised, yet relieved, to hear the loud crack of apparition in the hallway of Grimmauld place. The half-hearted punch to his chin, however, was not met with the same eagerness.

"You bastard!" The thin, spitting form of Draco Malfoy screeched hysterically, "SEVEN DAYS! And you- a cup of tea! Azkaban! My Father!"

Letting out a defeated sigh, Harry picked himself up off of the floor and strode over to a livid Draco, placing firm hands on shaking, bony shoulders and squeezing softly, "Calm down, Draco. It's okay. It's over now, I'm here." He murmured, not at all surprised when the blonde melted into his arms, clutching at him as he cried, Harry almost joining him.

"Seven days, Harry." Draco repeated weakly, after his tears finally stopped, burying his head in the crook of Harry's neck, letting out a soft sigh. "They kept me in the Ministry, and Father has been locked up for three years. It's only fair," He admitted reluctantly, clutching at Harry's shirt. "After everything he did. Mother's back at the Manor – house arrest. And I got off with some…'community service', I think they called it. Because of my age, you see. And apparently I have you to thank for that. You're a good influence on me, they say. "

"Oh really?"

"Mhmm. So I should probably keep on hanging around you, right? Need to purge all the badness out of my system, become a goody-two-shoes like you, eh?" He let out a squawk of protest as Harry prodded him in his side, before they burst out laughing. "Now…which room's mine? I have a few belongings in the hall, and you can't say no!"

Harry let out a defeated sigh before following his new roommate out into the hall, which was now littered with various bags and suitcases. "…A few belongings…?"

-X-X-X-

**A/N: ****Okay, so we went **_**very **_**AU at the end, and do not fear, there's still an epilogue! Now, while we're on that subject, it will be like the epilogue in the Deathly Hallows – KIDDING! I'll probably set it a couple of years after the war, with a few twists here and there, we shall see.**

**As for a sequel, if anyone's wondering – it's a definite possibility. I currently have a long SPN one –shot planned, but that's it. So…I may be persuaded if there's enough interest, hint hint!**

**Thank you for reading, and I hope you enjoyed the complete change!**

**Cat**

**X**


	11. Chapter 10

**A/N:**** Hello there! I'm sorry - I needed to get through my exams first, so now I can focus solely on updating and finishing off these fics, before possibly uploading some more!**

**A few things to address: Firstly, I just wanted to thank everyone who has read, reviewed, favourited and followed **_**The Kids from Yesterday**_**. It means a lot to me that you guys take the time to read and review, and everything, so thank you so much!**

**Secondly, in regards to some of the reviews! Sorry that I killed off Snape! I'm sorry! But, in my opinion, that was one of the most pivotal scenes in the book and I couldn't take it out – Harry wouldn't have done some of the things he did without Snape's help, and I think his death gave him the kick to defeat Voldemort. That's maybe just me though!**

**And thirdly – no-one as of yet has commented, but if there's any interest in a sequel, let me know! Once this is uploaded, I might add to my Jericho fic, and there's a Supernatural piece I wanted to put up, so we'll see!**

**Thank you again, and I hope you enjoy the epilogue!**

**Epilogue – Home Is Where The Heart Is.**

A year later, and Draco's feet and heart were firmly rooted in the Potter household. He had finally accepted Hermione and Ron's presence, even going as far as to spend hours debating with Hermione, and on some occasions, beating Ron at chess – much to Harry's amusement and Ron's chagrin.

It seemed that despite Voldemort being defeated, and the world feeling a little safer these days, tension still run increasingly high within the Wizarding community. It took a great many trips to Diagon Alley and Hogsmeade for Draco to feel comfortable on the streets, after having apparated home in a raging fury on many occasions, mind swirling with angry curses and words from the people around him. After a calming word or two from Harry, the anger usually quickly dissipated, and the two would curl in front of the fireplace, simply talking.

Despite the initial obstacles, a large majority of the Wizarding world had indeed moved on. Neville and Luna, to everyone's surprise, had had a whirlwind romance and wed within a few months, and were now quite happily married. The two had attended Hogwarts, with the re-instated Headmistress Minerva McGonagall watching over them; Luna as Professor of Care of Magical Creatures, and Neville as Professor of Herbology. Harry honestly couldn't think of any profession that suited them better, and was relieved that they had found their paradise after all the tragedy.

Ginny had surprised everyone by strolling up to Harry on one fateful afternoon, kissing him on the cheek and gazing at him in the eye. With a few choice words and a fleeting smile, she declared that they were better off as friends, and she was sorry for everything that had passed. This was quite fine with Harry, and he noted Ginny was glowing with happiness, curled against her fiancés' side; Dean's hand resting upon his wife-to-be's pregnant stomach.

Glancing across the vast and spacious room, Harry's eye caught the figure of Narcissa Malfoy, and he was pleasantly surprised to see her engaged in conversation with none other than Molly Weasley. At the close of war, Narcissa (after Lucius had been dragged away of course), had sauntered up to Molly, puffy-eyed and pale, and had apologised quite profusely, saying that there was no hard feelings over Bellatrix's death and that she hoped they could be friends someday. Molly, with a shaky, watery smile, had agreed instantly, saying that it was their idiotic husbands and naïve children that had a problem with each other's families, and that it was perhaps up to them to start afresh. The two mothers had formed quite a strong friendship (much to Ron's annoyance), and frequently spent time together. Thus, it was through this that old enemies were eradicated, new friendships and alliances continually flourishing in the new world Harry had helped create. It was a nice thought, he mused fondly, glancing around the room.

His smile quickly fell away, however, as thoughts of the Battle of Hogwarts confronted him yet again. Oh no, it wasn't enough that they plagued his nightmares – they assaulted him in the daytime too. When this happened, Harry frequently sought company, refusing to be alone and therefore proving everyone wrong. _Really_, Harry mused, just resisting the urge to roll his eyes, _do they think I'm a recluse or something? Honestly._

Lucius Malfoy on the other hand, was still residing in a cell in Azkaban, with the lure of being out in three years for good behaviour encouraging him to keep calm, and carry on, as it were. Narcissa and Draco visited him once a week, and it appeared that the Malfoy's were now closer than ever before.

Every now and again, Harry returned to Hogwarts, sometimes just to glance over at the castle in the distance, and sometimes even venturing inside to have a look around. The house elves and various other volunteers had painstakingly worked hard for weeks upon weeks to rebuild the castle to its former glory, and it had all paid off. Harry himself had volunteered, but McGonagall had politely declined his offer, kicking him out and demanding he take a tin of shortbread with him, for 'the journey home'.

And what a journey it had been. Despite the losses, and the tears, Harry felt content. Happier than he had ever been, in fact. He broke into wide, jaw-cracking smiles constantly these days, his laugh lighting up the room and infecting others almost instantly. He felt safe for the first time in his life, with the exception of the nightmares, but that was a small price to pay for some happiness, in his opinion.

He let out a contented sigh, slumping back against the creaky plastic chair, emerald eyes scanning the room. A fond smile appeared on his face as he watched Ron whirl Hermione around on the spot, white dress whipping around her ankles, veil sparkling as rays of sunshine hit it. The rings sparkled on their fingers, Harry's smile widening as Ron lifted up the new Mrs Weasley's hand to kiss at her knuckles, Hermione's peals of light laughter reaching his ears seconds later. She had managed to get some time off work for her wedding, which was hilarious in itself. If Harry remembered correctly, Hermione practically lived at the Ministry, determined to turn it around and rid it of all corruption. On one occasion, after running out of Weasley's Wizard Wheezes and gathering up all his courage, he was shoved into the corridor by Harry and Draco, and strolled into her office, got down on one knee and stuttered out a proposal. Hermione's squeals of delight could be heard all over the department.

A soft sigh from beside him caused him to turn his head, eyes focusing on the figure sitting next to him, watching as the blonde drummed his fingertips off of his bony knees before stilling, sensing he was being watched. Draco too, turned his head, casting a shy glance over at his companion, silver eyes shining with some unknown emotion; one that captivated Harry's attention until he reluctantly pulled away. A soft smile appeared on Draco's pale, thin face, mirrored by Harry, who gave a slight nod, reaching out to pat his shoulder, before they turned their attention back to the festivities.

Happiness swam in the air, lighting up the room as the sounds of laughter and music surrounded the crowd, causing a bubble to fill in Harry's chest, the smile fighting to jump off of his face.

All was well.

**A/N: ****And there you have it! I hope it was okay?**

**Please let me know if there is any interest in a sequel?**

**Thank you for reading and reviewing if you chose to do so! Thank you to everyone who's read it at all, and continued on throughout!**

**Cat**

**X**


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